Andrew Cornelia
President & CEOMercedes-Benz HPC North America
Andrew Cornelia, a dynamic and visionary leader in the electric vehicle charging industry, currently serves as the President & CEO of Mercedes-Benz High-Power Charging North America, a role he has held since June 2023. In this capacity, he is spearheading the development of more than 2,500 high-power chargers across North America, aiming to significantly advance Mercedes-Benz's electrification strategy.
Andrew's journey in the EV sector is marked by significant roles at notable companies. Before his current position, he was the VP and Head of Corporate Strategy & Development at Volta Charging. During his tenure, he grew the business by 5x, raised over $700 million in capital, and played a pivotal role in taking the company public. He also led the incubation of Volta’s first software offerings and its commercial charging program.
His deep operational and executive leadership expertise is further demonstrated through his role as the Founder and Managing Partner of Arcform LLC, an investment and advisory firm he established in June 2022. Here, he focuses on identifying and building promising e-mobility investment opportunities throughout the electric and advanced mobility value chain.
Additionally, Andrew holds advisory roles at Bluedot and eDRV, contributing to the development of innovative financial products and cloud-based EV charging software management platforms. His past experience includes influential positions at Tesla, where he led Strategic Finance and Operations for the company's Global Charging and North America Solar business units. He was instrumental in transforming Tesla Charging from a cost center to a profit-generating unit.
Andrew Cornelia’s Session(s):
9:45 am–10:30 am | Thu, March 21, 2024
The Realities of Today’s EV Charging Network to Meet Rising Deployment Demands
9:35 am–9:45 am | Thu, March 21, 2024
The Path Forward: A New Phase of EV Charging
The EV charging industry is entering a new phase – quality, speed, and reliability must be delivered quickly and at scale. In this new era, the industry as a whole must look not simply to meet demand but to accelerate it. This will require an updated way of thinking across the board: from the capital we need to build more public charging, to the high-quality labor force that we all must collectively help build and support if we're to meet uptime and fit seamlessly into EV drivers' lives. Despite billions of dollars invested in EV charging across the US, drivers overwhelmingly cite charging as the biggest hurdle to adoption. Collectively, we must prioritize the quality of the charging experience as the catalyst to the cultural evolution of transportation itself.