According to external sources, one of the most common concerns among users of electric vehicles in the United States remains the ease and reliability of public charging. However, TechCrunch, combined with a 600-mile self-driving experience and industry data, concluded that the problem had significantly eased over the past three years, particularly with regard to the availability and stability of fast-charge networks in the United States.

One time, 600 miles of travel.

The author recently drove an Audi e-tron to Montreal for over 600 miles. As a result of the planned rehabilitation of Katya EV9 this time, a single renewal of 220 miles e-tron was used. At this level of continuity, more frequent resupply is required on the way, but the overall process is generally smooth.

The author uses the route planning application ABRP to arrange charging stations. The first recharge point is near Lebanon, New Hampshire, for the Rivian charging station. A total of 6 300 kW charged stakes were available at the site and did not require queues. The charging station supports credit card payments and the vehicle has an actual charge power of more than 140 kW, close to the peak level of the vehicle.

At a Circuit Électrique site near Montreal, there was only one small problem in the process: the swiper was not available and the author then changed the application to charge and charge. In addition to this, the remaining replenishments were smooth. Each charge is about 20 minutes, which largely coincides with lunch or rest periods, without a special waiting period.

The experience in 2023 was significantly worse.

The article recalls that in 2023, when driving the same car to Maine, the experience was far less rapid. Although the site had also been screened in advance at that time, equipment malfunctions and poor information were frequently encountered during the journey.

In one case, the charged pillars were quickly disabled and forced to change them; however, the previous session was not properly completed, resulting in the failure to activate the second pillar and only to contact the artificial passenger service. On another occasion, applications showed that 2 of the 4 interfaces were available, while only 1 was working. On that trip, which lasted about seven hours, the author contacted three guests.

Quick loads and reliability are rising.

According to the article, personal experience is a sample, but open data is consistent with this change. Data from the United States Joint Office for Energy and Transport show that in July 2023, the United States had about 32,000 straight currents to fill. At the time, a large number of stations in the Tesla network continued to serve primarily Tesla owners. Since then, Tesla has gradually opened up its network to more brands and other operators have continued to expand.

TechCrunch quotes that the current total of straight-flow fast-filled stakes in the United States is now more than twice as high as in 2023. In addition to the increase in the number of equipment, the reliability of equipment is improving. The reliability index of Paren, the charging data company, shows that since last year the industry's reliability level has risen from about 85 to over 90 points. The index covers indicators such as recharge success rates and station downtime.

The article mentions that the Tesla network is still in the lead, but other networks are accelerating their pursuit. The expansion and competition of more operators was seen as contributing to the improvement of the overall experience.

There are still gaps in the network, but the recovery is faster

The article also notes that the United States fast-filled network is not free of problems. Part of the coverage remains inadequate, and equipment failure has not completely disappeared. However, the number of new sites continues to increase and the equipment damaged is being repaired more quickly than in the past.

According to external sources, the old impression that public charging was “hard to use” may have lagged behind reality for consumers who were still watching electric cars. At least in part of the long travels of the United States, rapid experience is approaching a more stable and predictable state.