Apparently, at the year’s peak charging time in the US, EV fast charging was up nearly 50% compared to the same time in 2023. That peak charging time is Thanksgiving week, of course.

“During the Thanksgiving travel week, public fast charging stations in the US experienced nearly a 50% increase in charging sessions versus the same period in 2023,” Paren writes. “However, the actual utilization declined slightly due to a nearly 50% increase in the number of additional new fast charging ports available.”

In particular, the Paren team examined data from what they deemed were “travel” stations, from Monday–Sunday of Thanksgiving week. “Black Friday 2024 saw a 54% increase in charging sessions compared to 2023, while Wednesday, the day before Thanksgiving had the lowest year-over-year (YoY) increase in sessions at 39%. The overall average YoY increase for the week was 48%.”

Despite 48% more fast charging, the utilization rate at these “travel stations” was 22%, down from 24% the year before. That means the charging infrastructure grew slightly more than the need for fast charging. That should be great news for anyone concerned that EV fast charging infrastructure isn’t growing fast enough.

Here are some more details from the Paren team on utilization rates: “The Sunday after Thanksgiving had the highest utilization rate for the week at 25%, meaning that the average ‘travel’ fast charging station in the US saw six hours of EVs plugged in and charging for the day. That equates to roughly 10 charging sessions. Interestingly, the 25% utilization rate for Sunday was slightly higher than the 24% rate for Saturday, even though Saturday saw a higher volume of charging sessions. This is likely due to a higher percentage of drivers on Sunday charging for more minutes to reach their destination, whereas much of Saturday’s charging session volume may have been more for adding range, topping up for local travel, and preparing for the long drive home on Sunday.”

Is Thanksgiving Week Really Peak EV Fast Charging?

One might think that, with just ~25% fast charging utilization, is Thanksgiving week really peak EV fast charging time? Yes, Thanksgiving week definitely is. Across 2024, 8 out of the top 10 days were during Thanksgiving week! That said, the increase in fast charging may not be as dramatic as expected. The Saturday after Thanksgiving, the busiest day for travel fast charging, the sessions were only 24% higher than the average for the year.

EV Charger Reliability Going Up

Without a doubt, reliability of EV fast chargers (or lack thereof) has been one of the biggest stains on the EV transition. It’s been the part of the entire EV ecosystem that has probably struggled the most. However, the good news is that’s improving too. The “Paren Reliability Index” increased by 3.4 percentage points this year, reaching 85.5%, I know — 85.5% is still not nearly enough, but at least it’s a notable step up from 82.1% reliability.

The standard is supposed to be 97%, but there are apparently loopholes allowing failures in EV charging reliability to persist. “While many charge point operators (CPOs) claim ‘uptime’ rates meet or exceed the 97% National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) minimum requirements, that metric typically only captures whether the charging system was turned on, not whether a driver was actually able to complete a charging session.” If you’re traveling to an area you’re not familiar with — or even if you’re traveling to an area you are familiar with — it’s good to check a crowdsourced site like PlugShare or ChargeHub to make sure you can rely on specific stations along your route.