Electrify America has expanded its California charging network with the opening of a new large-format EV charging station in downtown Santa Barbara. The new site combines 20 Hyper-Fast chargers with the company’s largest public battery energy storage system (BESS) deployment to date, helping improve charging access while supporting grid reliability.
Located at 36 West Carrillo Street on the former Greyhound bus depot property, the station features 20 DC fast chargers capable of delivering up to 350 kW. Compatible electric vehicles can add up to 20 miles of driving range per minute under ideal charging conditions.
The Carrillo Street station is Electrify America’s second location in Santa Barbara, joining its existing site at 3790 State Street. It also becomes the company’s fourth large-format charging hub in California, alongside stations in Santa Monica, San Diego, and San Francisco.
A key feature of the new charging site is its 1.9-megawatt battery energy storage system, the largest public BESS deployment in Electrify America’s network so far. The system stores electricity during periods of low demand or when renewable energy generation is abundant, then releases that energy during peak charging periods. This approach helps increase charging capacity, reduce strain on the local power grid, and maximize the use of renewable energy.
“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, President and CEO of Electrify America.
Barrosa added that the advanced storage technology enables the company to bring Hyper-Fast charging to locations that have traditionally been difficult to serve while making charging more convenient for drivers in downtown Santa Barbara.
At launch, all 20 chargers are equipped with CCS connectors. Electrify America plans to convert some of the chargers to NACS connectors later this summer as part of its ongoing NACS pilot program, allowing a broader range of EV drivers to charge without needing an adapter.
The new Santa Barbara station reflects Electrify America’s strategy of deploying larger charging sites with 20 or more chargers to meet growing EV demand. By increasing charging capacity at high-traffic locations, the company aims to reduce wait times and provide a more reliable charging experience as electric vehicle adoption continues to accelerate across California and the United States.
