VML is leading brand creation and design for Ionna, an EV charging network founded by eight automakers, the agency has shared exclusively with ADWEEK.
The win followed a roughly five-month-long competitive pitch process, which concluded in Feb. 2024, said Robb Smigielski, chief design officer and executive lead of brand design, at VML.
Ionna, a joint venture between BMW, General Motors, Honda, Hyundai, Kia, Mercedes-Benz, Stellantis, and Toyota, publicly launched in Feb. 2024 and opened its first “rechargery,” as the stations are called, in Apex, North Carolina, in October.
Building rechargeries (and trust)
The goal of Ionna is to solve a major problem facing EV adoption: lack of consumer trust and confidence in the charging infrastructure, Smigielski explained.
What people often refer to as “range anxiety” is, ultimately, anxiety about whether chargers are going to be available and in working condition, he said, especially given the operational and maintenance challenges that have plagued many of the major charging networks.
Ionna aims to have 100 locations with 1,000 chargers set up by the end of 2025, and 30,000 “ultra-fast-and-reliable charging points” by 2030, according to its website. That’s about the same number of Superchargers that Tesla had installed in the U.S. by last month, according to U.S. News.
Ionna is automakers’ first significant effort to challenge Tesla’s dominance in EV charging, and it’s coming in an era when many people are distancing themselves from Tesla CEO Elon Musk. Currently, Tesla’s network makes up a majority of the fast chargers available across the country (it’s currently at 58%, according to research and analysis firm EVAdoption). If Ionna can make good on its promise, it could offer an alternative.
Nostalgia, convenience, and Bucee’s-level brand obsession
In developing the brand identity for Ionna, Smigielski said, VML created a lexicon around EV charging that he hopes will become part of the culture as more people buy electric cars. The stations are rechargeries, the chargers are “geniune Ionna charge dispensers,” and EV owners who use the stations are “Ionnians.”
The retro feel of the branding alludes to a community-centric, almost utopian vision of American life, marrying old-school Route 66 vibes to a clean energy future and shooting for the brand obsession people have for regional gas station chains like Buc-ee’s or Wawa.