America’s embrace of electric vehicles may have stalled, but the network of plugs that EV drivers use to recharge last year was full speed ahead.
That’s the conclusion of a study that found the count of public fast chargers grew by nearly a third in 2025. Plugging plazas got bigger and more numerous and capable of delivering more power, and more drivers used them.
“Despite a more cautious market backdrop, the fast-charging sector saw rapid expansion,” said the report released this week by Paren, a data firm that tracks the charging network.
And the controversial effort by the federal government to build charging stations contributed a small portion — 3 percent — of the growth, as those installations struggle to overcome bureaucratic and political challenges.
