It's been the most politically charged Thanksgiving week in four years, and the results are in: people are buying more EVs, and they're not afraid to hit the road in their new, battery-powered devices. Automotive and EV industry analysts report that DC fast charging times are up nearly 50% compared to the same week last year.
If you were to look across the Thanksgiving table and ask your bigoted uncle (you know the one) what he thinks about EVs, he'd probably repeat a tired old trope about range, infrastructure, or the grid. As always, some of his concerns probably worked wonders 2-3 years ago, but real-world data repeatedly shows that battery-powered vehicles are ready and able to meet most of the daily driving needs of Americans – still. , data experts at Paren show that EVs are ready road tripagain!
“It's really positive news,” reports Loren McDonald, Paren's senior analyst. “Despite reports from some quarters that we won't have enough chargers, our data shows that the charging infrastructure is keeping up with the growth in demand and session activity. And loyalty improves as well.”
From the report:
We analyzed data from all “tourist” public fast-charging stations (except for dealerships and requiring four or more ports) during Thanksgiving week, Monday through Sunday. Black Friday 2024 saw a 54% increase in charging times compared to 2023, while Wednesday, the day before Thanksgiving, saw the lowest year-over-year (YoY) increase in sessions at 39%. The overall average YoY increase for the week was 48%.
THE PARENT
Despite the growth, there doesn't appear to be a shortage of chargers or the kind of long wait times that have plagued early adopters of EVs in years past. In fact, the actual usage rates he refused compared to last year, due to a 50% increase in the number of new charging ports and faster charging speeds possible for new EVs.
Parents' analysis also seems to indicate that drivers' concerns about whether they'll be able to find open, working chargers when they need them — a condition the company calls, “charger anxiety” — may be overstated, if at all.
The company's EV charger reliability index increased 3.4% compared to last year, reaching 85.5% and reflecting the improving overall charging experience of EV drivers.
The Paren Reliability Index combines many factors, but it is a measure of whether the driver was able to initiate and complete a successful charging session. While many charging point operators (CPOs) want to meet “overtime” rates or exceed the minimum 97% National Electricity Infrastructure (NEVI) requirement, that metric usually only captures whether the charging system is open, and not or whether the driver was actually able to complete the charging session due to anything from hardware and software issues to broken connectors, cut cables, or payment processing issues.
You can check the Thanksgiving data for parents in detail on their site.
Electrek's Take
I've known Loren McDonald for several years, and he's been nice enough to work with me in several capacities and smart enough to find me a little annoying. More importantly, though, he's almost always right, and the first person to beat himself up has his ratings down by 1-2% while everyone else is off by 10-20.
Earlier this year, the data company that Loren founded, EV Adoption, was acquired by Paren – and both Loren and Paren's co-founder, Bill Ferro, visited me on Quick Charge to talk about it. I've included the episode, above. Enjoy!
SOURCE | PHOTOS: Parent.
FTC: We use auto affiliate links to earn income. More.
