A Dramatic Improvement in EV Charging Infrastructure

In recent years, one of the most significant concerns for prospective electric vehicle (EV) buyers has been public charging infrastructure. According to a survey conducted by AAA in 2023, over half of respondents cited public charging as a key concern. These concerns, however, are not unfounded. Historically, EV fast charging has been plagued by issues such as lackluster performance and unreliable charging networks.

Source: techcrunch.com

In 2023, I drafted an EV fast-charging ‘bill of rights,’ outlining seven improvements charging networks needed to make to turn things around. The bill of rights called for improvements in areas such as charging speed, reliability, and user experience. Fast forward to 2026, and it’s clear that significant progress has been made in addressing these concerns.

A Recent Road Trip Highlights the Improved Charging Experience

This summer, I embarked on a 600-mile road trip to Montreal with my family. We drove an Audi e-tron, which has a range of approximately 220 miles per charge. Using A Better Route Planner (ABRP), an app that optimizes charging stops based on various factors, we identified a Rivian charger near Lebanon, New Hampshire, as our first stop. The app, now owned by Rivian, proved to be highly accurate in its recommendations.

Upon arrival at the Rivian charger, we were pleasantly surprised to find no lines, plenty of food options, a grocery store, and six 300-kilowatt chargers that were all functioning properly. I had downloaded the Rivian app in advance, but it turned out that the charger accepted my credit card and delivered more than 140 kilowatts, roughly the e-tron’s maximum capacity. We used the same chargers on the way home and experienced a similar seamless charging experience.

Our only hitch on the trip occurred at a Circuit Électrique station just outside Montreal, where the card reader didn’t work. However, this issue was easily resolved by downloading the Circuit Électrique app and loading it with 20 Canadian dollars. Each charging session lasted approximately 20 minutes, and we combined charging with lunch or rest stops. We never once waited on the car, and the three sessions took about as long as our wait at border control on the way back into the United States.

Comparing the Past and Present EV Charging Experience

To put the current state of EV charging into perspective, I recall a similar road trip in 2023. We drove the same Audi e-tron to Maine, a round trip of approximately 350 miles. The car could have made it to Maine on one charge, but the hotel didn’t have an EV charger. To ensure we had enough juice for the long weekend and the beginning of the drive home, we planned to charge a little over halfway there.

Before we left, I had used ABRP to weed out less reliable chargers. However, the experience was still marred by issues such as a broken charger, a failed session, and a call to customer service. At another stop, the charging network’s app reported two working plugs out of four, but only one actually worked. Altogether, I drove about seven hours and had to call customer service three times.

The stark contrast between our recent trip and the one in 2023 highlights the significant improvements made in the EV charging infrastructure. The available data suggests that fast charging in the U.S. has improved by leaps and bounds. According to the Joint Office of Energy and Transportation, the country had approximately 32,000 DC fast chargers in July 2023. Today, the number has more than doubled, with many of those chargers now accessible to all EV drivers, not just Tesla owners.

The data also reveals that reliability has improved significantly. Since last year, reliability has increased nearly 10 points, from 85 to the mid-90s, on Paren’s reliability index, which includes metrics such as successful charging sessions and station downtime. Tesla’s network remains dominant, but other networks are growing quickly, driving competition and further improvements in charging experiences.

While gaps in the network still exist, and chargers can still break, the overall trend is clear: EV charging has become significantly more reliable and convenient. It’s not perfect, but the improvements are undeniable.