More DC fast charging stations are coming online

Bloomberg Green analyzed federal Alternative Fuels Data Center data and found that nearly 600 DC fast charging stations came online in Q1 2024.

That’s one DC fast charging station for every 15 gas stations, and Tesla Superchargers make up more than a quarter of them. Tesla Superchargers qualify for federal National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) funding if they’re CCS compatible, and Tesla is currently the largest recipient of NEVI funding.

Retailers are playing a big part in the DC fast charger rollout; 10 opened at Buc-ee’s, and nine opened at Wawa in Q1 2024. Both NEVI chargers and non-federally funded DC fast charging stations are coming online.

Electrek reported on February 21 that the US Southeast’s first NEVI EV charging station broke ground, in Kentucky.

Bloomberg also points out that it’s not just a bicoastal rollout (and note that the following are all red states):

Indiana, for example, switched on 16 new fast-charging stations between January and April. Missouri and Tennessee each cut the ribbon on 13 new stations, while Alabama got 11 new places to plug in.

Read more: A Tesla Supercharger is Maine’s first NEVI EV charging station

Electrek’s Take

This is great news, and I am excited to watch the DC fast chargers multiply rapidly across the US. I charge my EVs at home most of the time, but I still need fast chargers when I go on trips, like everyone else.

This growth will hopefully alleviate the range anxiety that persists among the general public. Charging deserts are quickly being eliminated.

Lately, there’s been a lot of coverage about the sluggishness of the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) EV charger rollout, but Bloomberg Green‘s report shows that it’s well underway.

But that rollout was never going to happen in five minutes – it’s nothing short of a transportation revolution, and everyone started from scratch. There are a lot of moving parts.

States are in various stages of the NEVI rollout, from identifying where they want to put their NEVI EV chargers to bringing the EV chargers online. Plus, manufacturers are now in the process of adopting the North American Charging Standard. And most importantly, those chargers have to work all the time to increase consumer confidence.

It would also help if the Joint Office of Energy and Transportation updated its “NEVI progress update: web page – the last time it did so was six months ago.