U.S. Fast Charging Grew 30% in 2025 Despite NEVI Program Collapse
- EVs Infrastructure & Grid Connection News
Marin Holt
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- 8 minutes read
- The U.S. public fast-charging network grew 30 percent in 2025, adding 18,041 new ports and completing 141 million charging sessions
- Tesla alone installed over 6,700 ports, accounting for more than a third of all new 2025 capacity
- Session completion reliability reached 93 percent across the network, up from prior-year baseline
- NEVI deployed fewer than 700 federally funded ports in 2025 while states spent only $94 million of the $4.4 billion made available
- The Trump administration froze the $2.5 billion Charging and Fueling Infrastructure grant program while NEVI was suspended, leaving private capital as the primary deployment driver
The U.S. public fast-charging network grew 30% in 2025, adding 18,041 new ports and completing 141 million charging sessions. During the same period, the federal NEVI program deployed fewer than 700 funded ports and states spent $94 million of the $4.4 billion made available, leaving the infrastructure buildout almost entirely to private capital.
Critical Perspective
U.S. public fast charging completed 141 million sessions in 2025 with a reported 93 percent completion rate, growth driven almost entirely by private operators as NEVI deployed fewer than 700 funded ports from a $4.4 billion federal allocation. The completion rate figure deserves scrutiny: Plug In America’s 2024 survey found that different network operators use incompatible definitions of session completion, with some counting a session as complete when payment processes rather than when energy is delivered, inflating reliability metrics by 8 to 12 percentage points against driver-experienced uptime. The USPS electric vehicle fleet conversion program illustrates how federal programs can absorb billions in budget authority while delivering outputs measured in hundreds of units — the USPS had obligated $3 billion by 2024 and delivered fewer than 3,000 electric vehicles against a 66,000-vehicle target. The question the charging industry is not asking: whose definition of session completion produced the 93 percent figure, and does it align with how commercial fleet operators measure uptime on their own depots?
What the Numbers Show
Private operators drove 2025 deployment. Tesla alone installed over 6,700 ports, accounting for more than a third of all new capacity. The overall network reached 93% session completion reliability. The contrast between private and federal performance defines the current state of U.S. charging infrastructure.
NEVI, created by the 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act with $5 billion to build out highway charging corridors, ended 2025 with roughly 700 funded ports operational while 1,000 privately funded sites came online without federal support. Many NEVI-funded operators disbanded teams or folded as the program stalled.
How Federal Funding Uncertainty Stalls Grid Connection
The Trump administration froze the $2.5 billion Charging and Fueling Infrastructure grant program. NEVI was suspended in February 2025, then partially unlocked in August after a federal court blocked fund withholding for 14 states. The U.S. House then passed a resolution cutting $500 million from NEVI, throwing $1.4 billion in obligated 2026 funds into doubt. Operators who win renewed funding face new permitting rounds, revised drawings, and updated site agreements, adding months and cost.
Federal funding uncertainty compounds an existing grid connection problem. Utility distribution systems in rural corridors and older urban areas lack substation capacity for high-power charging hubs. Grid upgrade timelines routinely add 12 to 18 months before construction begins. NEVI requires stations spaced no more than 50 miles apart on designated corridors, which means rural sites with thin grid infrastructure and slow utility interconnection processes.
California demonstrates a workaround. PG&E’s Flex Connect pilot allowed a PepsiCo distribution center in Fresno to begin charging operations approximately 18 months ahead of when a standard grid connection would have permitted. Instead of requiring full substation upgrades to serve worst-case peak demand, Flex Connect uses dynamic hour-by-hour load management to stay within existing grid capacity. A Brattle Group study found managed charging approaches can roughly Double Grid Hosting capacity for EVs and defer upgrade costs by up to ten years.
Nevada Mandates Grid Connection Reporting
Nevada’s Public Utilities Commission issued the first state mandate requiring a utility to track and report grid connection timelines for large EV charging installations. Under Docket No. 24-05041, NV Energy must collect one year of data on how long interconnection takes for medium- and heavy-duty charging equipment, beginning January 2026. The Interstate Renewable Energy Council drove the proceeding, citing systemic interconnection delays as a barrier to charging deployment.
NV Energy’s EV transportation electrification programs exceed $100 million and cover up to 100% of approved project costs. Nevada’s NEVI allocation totals $38 million through 2027, currently frozen pending federal review. The state serves I-80 and I-15, critical routes linking California to eastern markets.
What Comes Next
Paren, a charging analytics firm, forecasts approximately 8% port deployment growth in 2026, down sharply from 2025’s 30% pace. The Section 30C tax credit for EV charging equipment expires in July 2026 under current policy. Highest-utilization states in 2025 were California, Florida, Hawaii, Maryland, New Jersey, and Nevada. Arizona, Georgia, and Texas showed the fastest utilization growth. Sparsely trafficked NEVI corridors in rural states remain thin, and private operators have little reason to fill gaps where session volumes do not justify capital.
Source: Canary Media, January 28, 2026
