• Electrify America has opened a new EV charging station in Santa Barbara, California.
• With 20 ultra-fast dispensers and a huge battery energy system, it sets the stage for what’s next at EA.
• The company’s large-format stations can cater to at least 20 EVs simultaneously, all while delivering up to 350 kW to each car.

Electrify America, one of the largest DC fast charging networks for electric vehicles in the United States, has opened its latest-generation site in Santa Barbara, California. 

The company’s newest large-format station sets the blueprint for what’s to come, with a minimum of 20 stalls and a big battery energy storage system.

Electrify America large-format DC fast charging station in Santa Barbara, California

Photo by: Electrify America

Located on the site of the former Greyhound Bus depot at 36 West Carillo Street in Santa Barbara, EA’s newest large-format EV charging station has 20 individual stalls that can deliver up to 350 kilowatts of power to each EV in need of a top-up. This is the company’s fourth large-format station in California, but it’s the first with a 1.9-megawatt battery—the largest deployed by Electrify America to date.

The battery storage system can take energy from the grid when usage is low and discharge it when demand is high, expanding charging capacity and reducing stress on the grid.

“This large-format station showcases the next evolution of charging infrastructure, combining high-power charging with integrated battery energy storage to deliver reliable capacity at scale,” said Rob Barrosa, Electrify America President and CEO. “By incorporating advanced storage technology, we’re able to bring Hyper-Fast charging to locations that have traditionally been difficult to serve, while making it easy for customers to integrate charging into their daily routines in the heart of downtown Santa Barbara.”

Electrify America’s battery-aided station in Santa Barbara currently has CCS1 connectors exclusively, which means NACS-equipped EVs like those from Tesla, Rivian, and Cadillac will need an adapter. That said, EA will start retrofitting NACS connectors at the site starting this summer, as part of its ongoing NACS pilot program.

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The other large-format Electrify America stations are located in Santa Monica, San Diego, and San Francisco, with many more scheduled for construction. With at least 20 bays, this type of charging stop can slash wait times, helping EV drivers get back on the road faster without having to sit in a queue. The fact that each charger can deliver 350 kW of power also helps.

The company currently operates 1,149 DC fast charging stations in 47 states and the District of Columbia, according to the Department of Energy’s Alternative Fuels Data Center (AFDC). In total, Electrify America has over 5,700 individual fast-charging ports.

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Tesla has opened two new Suerpcharger stations in Australia, just weeks after hitting the milestone of opening its 150th Supercharger site in the country, and is also offering some staggering low charging prices.

The two new sites are at Braybrook in Victoria and Osborne Park in Western Australia, and include off-peak pricing pitched at record lows, just as drivers of petrol and diesel cars continue to deal with a surge in bowser prices as a result of the war in the Gulf.

The Driven last week reported on the cost advantages of driving an EV over an ICE (internal combustion engine) car, which are being highlighted in a new website with updates on a daily basis.

See our story: How far will $1 get you in a diesel car and an EV, and which cars are cheapest to drive?

The new Tesla Supercharger site at Osborne Park features 8-stalls and is open to both Tesla and non-Tesla vehicles, and includes – for the first time in W.A. – the company’s V4 superchargers with speeds of up to 322 kW.

Pricing for Tesla vehicles is as low as $0.32 per kWh, while non-Tesla vehicles can pay as little as $0.45 at times if charging without a Tesla Supercharger membership.

The other site is located in Melbourne’s inner western suburb of Braybrook with 4 stalls. Each of these is rated at 250 kW.

Incredibly, the pricing before 8am is just $0.27 per kWh for Tesla EVs, while non-Tesla vehicles pay $0.37. That’s cheaper than many AC chargers, let alone high speed reliable DC fast charging.

It’s also certainly cheaper than fuel for ICE vehicles in the current price cycle.

These two sites bring the total Tesla sites to 152 and comes in under two years after the 100th site opened in South Australia in September 2024.

Latest data compiled by carloop also shows the growth in our local Supercharger network, which now stands at 1,001 Supercharger bays.

Over the last 16 months, the number of Tesla Superchargers has grown by over 40%, making more reliable charging available across many parts of the country.

The most recent surge in sites have been focused in NSW, partially driven by co-funding of EV charging by the state government, so it’s good to see Tesla opening sites in other parts of the country too.

The latest sites are part of the significant global growth and also come just weeks after the company announced that it had hit its 80,000th supercharger, in France.

The recent surge in adoption and EV interest will also provide extra confidence to charge point operators to continue to grow infrastructure, which some saw being tested during parts of the Easter break.

With prices of Tesla’s DC chargers being as low as they are at times of the day, it’ll surely drive utilisation across its network in months to come.

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As fuel prices continue to climb toward record territory, Costco parking lots are looking more like Mad Max bivouacs than suburban warehouses. With members currently waiting for ages to score a few cents off the gallon, the timing for Costco’s next move is suspiciously perfect: The retail giant is mere months away from opening its first standalone, 40-pump oasis of discounted fuel. Just don’t expect to get in without a card.

Costco has sold gasoline at big stations in its warehouse-store parking lots since 1995. It launched the Kirkland Signature brand that year, too, with basically the same business premise: Take high-commodity items (whether it’s laundry detergent or 87-octane), strip away marketing and middlemen, and sell at a price that makes people feel like they’re beating the system. Then, of course, Costco makes its money back by collecting ever-recurring membership dues.

That’s why the brand has been cracking down on people sharing their Costco cards. You gotta pay to play; the shareholders can only cash in if more people keep buying memberships.

And a membership will be needed to access the first standalone Costco Gasoline station, scheduled to open in Mission Viejo, California (replacing an old Bed, Bath & Beyond at 25732 El Paseo, to be exact) this June. The second is reportedly planned for Hawai’i and opening in 2027—makes sense, Iwilei (Honolulu), is home to the busiest Costco in the world. And that’s just what’s been publicly advertised—a little snooping by my colleague Byron Hurd revealed that Costco’s also sniffing around Livonia, Michigan, as a potential place for a huge fuel station. Suffice it to say, there will be more than just two of these stations if Costco’s plans pan out.

But it has been confirmed that there will be no shop—not even a little three-aisle convenience store where you might grab expired frozen pizza or a dusty bottle of Gatorade—at the 17,000-square-foot fuel field opening in Southern California in a couple of months. Costco’s counting on the price of fuel alone getting people into its membership ecosystem.

A 40-pump station is not as big as a monolithic Buc-ee’s, but it’s pretty darn large compared to most fuel stations.

My guess is that a lot of people will be begging for a Costco hot dog stand at these places, and I’m sure unlicensed vendors will be walking around with bells and snacks if they don’t get chased away. But officially, the idea here is purely high-volume, fast-in-fast-out, fuel.

If you’re into conspiracy theories, “Costco convinced the American President to attack Iran and spike fuel prices before opening its first big gas station” feels like fertile ground for podcasters to discuss. I’m not going to lend that any credence there, though—and this isn’t Costco reacting to this month’s market conditions, either. Plans for this fuel station have been in the works for a long time.

Jokes aside, the deeply unfortunate geopolitical situation we’re living through does make discounted fuel considerably more appealing and Costco is certainly aware of that. As Costco CFO Gary Millerchip said in the company’s 2026 Q2 earnings call: “When prices are higher, that will tend to cause members to maybe take the extra mile that it might involve to get to the gas station because of the incremental value they see there.”

My translation: People are willing to sit in a 20-minute line to save $12, even if it eats up $2 in fuel just to keep the AC running.

Costco Gas Math

For those of you who are now wondering if these gas stations could actually save you money, here are some numbers. There are two tiers of Costco memberships: “Executive” ($130 per year plus tax) and “Gold Star” ($65 per year plus tax). Both offer access to “Member-Only Fuel Pricing on TOP TIER Gasoline” at “over 750” stations—it seems safe to assume either membership level will let you use the new non-store fuel pumps when they come online.

Since Costco gas has the “Top Tier” endorsement, meaning it meets the minimum purity levels that most automakers agree on, I’d be perfectly confident burning it in any normal car. So let’s compare some numbers.

The National Average: As of April 7, the national average for regular 87-octane gas hit $4.14 per gallon, according to AAA. That’s a big jump from the $2.80–$3.00 range we saw earlier this year.

The Costco Delta: Analysts and recent field reports (from Fast Company and The Street) show that Costco is currently undercutting local averages by $0.20 to $0.40 per gallon.

The High-Stress Variance: In high-cost markets like Los Angeles or Honolulu (where the new standalone stations are headed), the delta is even more extreme. For example, while Los Angeles County averages are flirting with $5.90, some Costco locations have been spotted as much as $0.47 lower than the local zip code average.

Fuel Tank Figures: Let’s say you’re in a late-model Chevy Tahoe running on fumes. If you’re pumping 23 gallons of gas in Orange County, California, you could be paying $137.54 (county average: $5.98 per gallon). But if that Mission Viejo Costco station were up and running, you could fill that tank for $128.34 (assuming $5.58 per gallon).

Is it worth spending 10 minutes in line to save about 10 bucks? If you’re scratching your chin trying to decide, the real answer is that you should get a more fuel-efficient car.

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