New EV charging station opens in Chula Vista – and it takes credit cards just like any gas pump

Drivers of electric vehicles have a new place to charge their cars in the South Bay.
EV infrastructure companies Skycharger and Electric Era have opened a public fast-charging facility at 873 Palomar St. in Chula Vista. The site at a Valero gas station is equipped with four dual-port chargers, each delivering 200 kilowatts of power that allows eight vehicles to charge simultaneously.
“This site is an important location, providing corridor charging for cross-border traffic, as well as local EV drivers from the neighboring communities of Chula Vista and National City,” said Johannes Copeland, chief operating officer of Skycharger.
Copeland said the site’s DC (direct-current) fast chargers allow vehicles to get an 80% battery charge in about 25 to 35 minutes.
Drivers don’t need to download any apps to use the chargers.
“Electric Era intentionally designed these to mimic the experience of a gas pump where there’s a credit card reader and all you’ve got to do is use your credit card,” Copeland said in an interview with the Union-Tribune. “It’s nice and simple.”
The facility is one of multiple charging stations that Skycharger is building on highways and along the length of Interstate 5, extending from the state of Washington in the north all the way down to the U.S.-Mexico border in the south.
“For EV drivers in California, the I-5 corridor as well as (California state Route 99) and some other important corridors are critical for long-distance EV driving,” Copeland said.
The Chula Vista station also features a 120-kilowatt battery energy storage system that helps the facility balance peak demand and manage time-of-use variations on the electric grid. The Electric Era design enables the site to operate with greater efficiency and resilience.
“It’s a model for what reliable, widespread EV charging should look like,” Kyler Schmitz, Electric Era’s chief revenue officer, said in a statement.
A few weeks ago, an EV charging station operated by another company opened in North County.
DC fast-charging network Ionna unveiled 10 public charging stalls at its 400-kiolwatt Rechargery Relay station at 640 Hacienda Drive in Vista. Ionna is a joint venture of BMW, General Motors, Honda, Hyundai, Kia, Mercedes-Benz, Stellantis and Toyota.
The recent rollouts come at a critical time for the EV market, both in California and in the U.S.
One of the long-time hurdles that zero-emission vehicles need to clear is “range anxiety” — the fear that drivers could get stranded if their EV runs out of power before getting to a charging station.
California policymakers have made a concerted effort to encourage and offer incentive programs to build more charging stations. Last week, the California Energy Commission released a chart showing that the state has more than 200,000 public or shared charging ports across the state.
Public charging stations include places such as grocery stores and gas stations while shared chargers can be found in spots such as apartment complexes or workplaces.
The 200,000 figure is 68% larger than the number of gasoline nozzles statewide, the energy commission said.
But in recent quarters, sales of zero-emission vehicles have been sluggish.
The market share for EVs, plug-in hybrids and hydrogen fuel cell vehicles in California dropped to 21.6% from April through June of this year. That’s down from 23% in the first quarter and 25.1% in the fourth quarter of 2024.
EV sales across the U.S. have also slowed, with registrations in April slipping 4.4% compared to the same time last year.
Gov. Gavin Newsom five years ago issued an executive order mandating the elimination of sales of all new gasoline-powered passenger vehicles throughout California by 2035. But President Donald Trump in June signed three Congressional Review Act resolutions rescinding those California EV mandates — as well as rules related to diesel engines.
California and 10 other states have filed a lawsuit, arguing that Trump’s actions are unconstitutional and beyond the authority of Congress.
On top of that, the 940-page federal budget legislation dubbed the “One Big Beautiful Bill” signed into law in July included provisions that eliminate the federal tax credit of up to $7,500 on the purchase or lease of a new EV, or $4,000 for a used one.
“We feel some of that pain,” Copeland of Skycharger said, but he remains optimistic.
“Especially in California, there’s certainly enough momentum at the state level, at the utility level and at the private investment level that it’s not like you’re going to put that genie back in the bottle,” he said. “EVs are here to stay.”