In the second quarter, 703 high-speed public charging stations opened in the U.S., close to the record. Chargers are showing up even in very rural areas.
While buying an electric vehicle is about to get slightly more expensive for some Americans, charging one just got quite a bit easier. Some 703 high-speed, public charging stations opened in the U.S. in the second quarter, the second-largest such infrastructure boom on record, according to Department of Energy data.
There are now about 11,400 places in the country to quickly top up a car battery, including dots on the most rural swaths of the map. Plans for nearly all of the new chargers were likely underway before the Trump administration began gutting EV incentives, according to BloombergNEF analyst Ash Wang. However, retailers are still keen to add charging spots in their parking lots to attract a wave of first-time EV owners as they establish charging habits. Meanwhile, charging networks are encouraged by rising electric car sales and emboldened by new dynamic pricing strategies that make their electron pumps busier and more profitable. “We’re continuing to expand as fast as we can,” said Electrify America Chief Executive Robert Barrosa. “This is a long journey; it spans more than one administration, one political climate, one economic climate, for that matter.” The Trump administration’s freeze of a $5-billion federal plan to subsidize new charging stations has had little effect on new construction, according to Wang at BNEF. “Deployment has been mostly driven by the private sector,” she explained. “And we’re seeing increased utilization for a lot of these networks.” As EV adoption grows beyond the coasts and urban areas, chargers are following. Nearly two out of three stations opened in the recent quarter are located in states that don’t have a mandate for zero-emission vehicles. Consider Mississippi, one of the lowest states on the list when it comes to EV adoption. Its map is now dotted with nearly 60 high-speed, public charging stations, including six that just switched on for the first time. The biggest charging desert in the state is now a stretch of 188 miles — from the Chevrolet dealer in Lucedale up to the Bonita Lakes Mall in Meridian. Much of the recent growth can also be attributed to Tesla, which comprised 15% of the stations switched on from April through June. Since the company started letting other brands of cars plug into its chargers last year, lines have increased, as has revenue, Wang explained. Meanwhile, EVgo, which operates about 1,100 fast-charging stations in the U.S., says there is still an imbalance between the number of electron pumps and the parade of EVs now on the road. It now has 1.4 million customers on its platform, or nearly 1,300 people for each of its stations. “Importantly, our business is increasingly not reliant on new EV sales in any one year and instead reliant on the overall number of EVs on the road,” Chief Executive Badar Khan told investors on a recent conference call. EVgo is also emboldened by its new dynamic pricing algorithms, which lure customers with low rates during slow periods and capture a premium during demand peaks. Each of its pumps is now occupied 24% of the time on average, up from 19% a year ago. To be sure, a shift in federal policy, specifically tariffs and the scrapping of consumer incentives, will have a chilling effect on EV sales and charging infrastructure. Since Trump took office, BNEF has slashed its forecast for new U.S. high-speed chargers next year by almost half. That said, the need for high-speed chargers is only growing, as a greater share of battery-powered cars and trucks are now going to multifamily households that don’t have a place to charge at home. At the moment, BNEF says about three-quarters of U.S. charging is done at home; however, that share is falling quickly toward 50%. “Yes, EV sales are going to slow,” said Chris Pierce, a senior analyst at Needham & Co. Inc. “But you have a bunch of EVs on the road and not enough infrastructure in the ground.” Stock reports for Bloomberg.
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