- Recent data suggests that the infrastructure is designed to handle the high EV charging demand
- There will likely be 50% more chargers in 2024 compared to 2023
- Public EV charging is improving on reliability
US electric vehicle charging infrastructure is in line with EV sales growth by 2024, and improved reliability, new research shows.
Conducted by Paren, which provides EV charging data services, the study looked at end-user experience with fast charging times during the Thanksgiving travel week—described as the “Super Bowl of fast charging.”
Research has found that the number of charging times increased by about 50% during Thanksgiving week in 2024 compared to the same period in 2023. But the number of charging connectors also increased by almost the same amount.
Thanksgiving week served as a “stress test” for 2024 for the charging sector, as motorists hit the highways at a time unmatched by any other holiday season—not even the current Christmas and New Year's week. , where travel is often spread over several days.
Thanksgiving week comparison of EV charging times and usage rates (via Paren)
As a result, the average usage rate—defined here as the average total minutes in each connector's charging session as a percentage of hours open (usually within a 24-hour period)—declined slightly from 24% to 22%, year over year. – a year. It shows that infrastructure is compatible with the growing number of EVs on US roads.
And the number of EVs in the US has grown steadily through 2024, with sales up more than 10% year over year in the final months of the year, and EV market share close to 10% of the overall US light vehicle market. But 2024 has been the year that the infrastructure comes out ahead of the sales growth of EVs—a really good thing to set the stage for the market. The lack of public chargers was a concern for nearly half of consumers in a 2023 JD Power survey.
The progress is due in part to the filling of more fast-charging stations for road trips across the country, allowing for more than the few cross-country routes that existed a few years ago. Electrify America also tested the idea of reducing fast charging by 85% at busy stations, and the networks seem to be getting it. smart if they need extra chargers. For example, Tesla is adding temporary Superchargers to ease one of the busiest times.
Love's Travel Stop EV charging
Parents also see increased reliabilitybased on the company's own index that emphasizes the frequency with which drivers are able to successfully initiate and complete charging sessions. This increased by 3.4 percentage points compared to last year, reaching 85.5%. But it remains unclear how much progress will be made in building a reliable public charging infrastructure in the next few years.
A 2023 study by the Department of Energy suggested we may need 182,000 DC fast charging ports by 2030, to support anywhere from 30-42 million EVs on the road by then. But given the outcome of the election, it may give infrastructure another chance to move forward.