A lot of attention gets placed on EV sales trends:
“EV demand is slowing.”
“Consumers are hesitant.”
But when you look at real-world field data, a different story emerges:
The charging experience is letting drivers down.
Reports found that 1 out of 5 charging attempts fails — because the charger is broken, won’t authenticate payment, or simply won’t start a session. That failure rate is staggering compared to gas stations, where uptime expectations are essentially 100%.
In a recent 50-state EV charging reliability assessment, we analyzed:
- reported uptime vs. California’s new 97% requirement
- where NEVI funding is live, pending, or stalled
- which charging networks are operating in each state
A few patterns jumped out:
• Several major charging networks consistently underperform on uptime • Some states are aggressively deploying NEVI funds despite current reliability problems • Site hosts are likely to replace underperforming DCFC hardware once uptime is enforceable
Instead of an “EV demand problem,” we may be dealing with an infrastructure readiness problem.
People are open to EVs.
They’re not open to broken chargers, failed payment screens, or guessing whether the station will work when they arrive.
Fix the experience, and adoption follows.
If you’d like the high-level 50-state summary, reach out to TKD2 or Tom Miller directly. (Custom assessments for companies or product-specific strategies are available upon request.)
Question for the industry:
What’s been your biggest frustration with public fast charging — reliability, payment, location, or something else?
Do you agree with this assessment? Let’s spark a discussion.
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