VW sells minority stake in Electrify America to Siemens

Photo by Andrew Hawkins / The Verge

Volkswagen sold a minority stake in its electric vehicle charging division toSiemens in a deal that values the company at $2.45 billion. The number of Electrify America charging stations in the US and Canada will be doubled by the end of the decade. It was reported by The Wall Street Journal.

Although they still only represent a fraction of overall car sales, there has been a spike in electric vehicle sales in the US. The Biden administration, fueled with $5 billion in funding as part of the president's infrastructure plan, is embarking on a plan to build 500,000 EV charging stations by 2030.

Private partners, like VW's Electrify America, which operates more than 730 charging locations and over 2,438 individual charging units, will play a significant role in that plan. The partners will need partners to help cover the huge costs of building out a charging network. It can cost up to $250,000 to install a DC fast charging station.

The companies wouldn't say how much the minority stake in Electrify America was worth. A seat on the board of directors will be given to the german company.

The first external investor in the US is Electrify America. VW created the business in the wake of the Dieselgate scandal, in which the automaker installed software in its vehicles to cheat government tests.

According to VW, the plan is to double the number of locations and fast charging stations. A series of human-centered charging stations in California and New York are in the works.

EV charging in the US is hard for people who don't own a car. There are more than 100,000 charging stations in the US. It can be difficult to find one that works in a gated parking garage.