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It’s the most state-of-the-art EV charger in the country, the only one in Iowa, and you’ll never guess where it is. The V4 Tesla Supercharger—capable of an output of 350 kW charging speeds—is located in Lamoni, Iowa at the Amish Country Store, right next to Amish horse and buggy parking. Jeremy Sellars, owner of the store, says it was a long time coming.
Sellars store has improbably become home to one of the top 10 most powerful Tesla charging stations in the United States. The juxtaposition of cutting-edge electric vehicle infrastructure with a decades-old Amish buggy parking spot may seem surreal, but for Sellars, it’s a savvy business decision and a compelling emblem of how tradition and innovation can coexist.
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A Strategic Stop on the EV Highway
Tesla owners typically stop at the Lamoni chargers for five to fifteen minutes—sometimes longer when alternative charging points are sparse. Now, with the North American Charging Standard (NACS) opening Tesla’s network to other EVs, Sellars is seeing a steady increase in visitors. “The Amish had been there parking there for like 18 years… I just couldn’t see the point of tearing their spot out,” he explains, underscoring his commitment to long-standing community relationships.
Sellars began lobbying Tesla in 2014, but it wasn’t until years later that the company came knocking. “They showed up one day at work and we started talking… They were very interested. I was really interested, of course,” he recounts.
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One of the Nation’s Fastest Charging Stations
The result: Lamoni now houses a 16-stall, V4-equipped Tesla supercharging station, capable of speeds that currently outpace most vehicles’ capacities. “It’s really designed to do at this point, just to test the trucks and using the full capacity of those chargers,” he notes.
Meanwhile, the Amish Country Store is thriving. The EV influx has brought new customers, many of whom discover the store’s inventory of 100% Amish-made products, from hand-crafted wood furniture to fresh cinnamon rolls.
Handcrafted Goods Meet High Tech
Sellars personally sources these goods from Amish communities across Iowa, Missouri, Indiana, and Ohio, using a network of relationships built over time—sometimes even with former Amish turned truck drivers.
This episode reveals a fascinating portrait of rural reinvention, where high-speed chargers and horse-drawn wagons converge, and a quiet Iowa town becomes a surprising beacon of EV innovation.
Visit http://amishstoreiowa.com/ to learn more.