- America’s public EV fast charging infrastructure is growing steadily, despite a big shift in EV sales.
- Over 3,000 new DC charging plugs were installed in the U.S. in the first quarter—similar to the same period last year, according to a new report from Paren.
- Reliability is also increasing, and networks are now installing more high-powered chargers than ever.
The market for new electric cars in the United States isn’t exactly booming right now, but that hasn’t stopped EV charging companies from pushing forward with their expansion plans.
Over 3,000 new DC fast charging plugs were installed in America in the first quarter, according to the latest data published by Paren, an EV charging data platform that monitors over 95% of the country’s DC fast charging infrastructure in real time.
From January through March, American charging networks installed 3,387 new DC ports and turned the lights on at 617 new stations, making for a total of 13,708 stations and 73,394 ports. The growth is on par with last year’s first quarter, when 3,331 new ports were powered on. But the way charging networks are growing is shifting in 2026.
According to Paren, charging companies are no longer expanding their footprint by building new stations, and are instead focusing on adding stalls at sites that are already operational. High-power charging also dominates new installs, with the majority of fresh stalls delivering over 250 kilowatts. What’s more, operators are using the lessons learned from previous deployments to boost reliability, which is now in the 90-95% range on average across the country, up from the 85-92% range last year.
Pricing, meanwhile, has remained stable year over year, with most stations charging between $0.45 and $0.55 per kilowatt-hour. The cost of charging is in the spotlight more than ever as gas prices remain painfully high across the country.
Tesla is still the biggest player in the domestic DC fast charging industry, but its rate of deployment isn’t what it used to be. According to Paren, Tesla installed 880 new ports in the first quarter, contributing to 26% of the total, down significantly from peak levels above 40% last year. Ionna, the charging firm backed by several large automakers, is in second place with 278 new ports installed. Third place went to Red E, which built 264 ports.
Speaking of ports, American charging operators still overwhelmingly prefer CCS1 connectors, leaving Tesla’s NACS connector in second place. In the first quarter, non-Tesla charging networks opened 606 NACS ports and 2,102 CCS1 connectors.
Interestingly, 154 CHAdeMO ports were commissioned. The old Nissan Leaf used that kind of connector, but it's long fallen out of favor.
Industry-wide, non-Tesla sites in the U.S. still have more CHAdeMO ports than NACS connectors, despite having more cars with NACS connectors than ever before at dealerships. That said, charging companies have ramped up NACS installations in the previous two quarters, while CHAdeMO deployments have gone down.
EV sales dropped by 27% in Q1, as compared with the same period last year. But charging companies are forging ahead. In part, that's because these projects can take months and years to complete, so charge-point operators can't turn on a dime. On top of that, there's still a real need for more charging infrastructure for the cars already on the road and those rolling into driveways. Over the long term, EV sales will pick up, and charging companies want to be ready.
