In a sector where reliability and uptime tend to hog the spotlight, the top reported concern in a recent survey of EV charging industry leaders came as something of a surprise to EVolve CEO Andrew Bennett.
The “most pressing challenge for EV charging network operators in 2025” is “energy capacity constraints,” according to a new study commissioned by Driivz, an EVolve subsidiary and software provider for charge point operators (CPOs).
“As we think about policy in the United States, whether it’s fueled by EV charging or increasing manufacturing, we’re going to need more capacity. We’re going to need more [energy] generation,” Bennett told Tech Brew. “And then we’re going to need a regulatory environment that really thinks about the distribution system.”
More than 80% of network operators said their networks “are only minimally or moderately scalable,” the Driivz study found. Respondents said their priorities are improving the charging experience for their users, “maintaining network stability and availability 24/7,” and increasing the number of charging sites and fast chargers.
The report comes amid significant changes to federal policy that are impacting the EV charging sector, including the Trump administration’s move to freeze funding from the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure program, which made $5 billion in federal grants available to states to build fast charging stations.
Despite the federal government rescinding its support for electrification, Bennett said his conversations with CPOs suggest that industry leaders are far from panicked, in part because the charging sector is still trying to catch up on demand from the EVs that are already on the road.
“It doesn’t mean that it wasn’t helpful, because I think it helped with public sentiment, more visible charging,” he said. “But I haven’t talked to a CEO of a charge point operating company in the United States who’s said that it’s a big deal, that it’s changed anything for them about their trajectories.”
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A group of states sued the Trump administration over the NEVI funding freeze. But from Bennett’s perspective, “It’s kind of a political thing, not necessarily a business thing…And something else I’ve heard several of these CEOs say is, ‘While we love federal funding and interest, you don’t want an industry to be dependent on it.’”
Speaking of: Despite what analysts at JD Power earlier this month described as “a cloud of uncertainty around future EV interest,” the firm’s latest US EV Consideration Study found that demand for EVs “has remained stable.”
Unchanged from a year ago, 24% of vehicle shoppers are “very likely” to consider buying an EV and 35% are “somewhat likely.”
Brent Gruber, executive director of JD Power’s EV practice, said in a press release that the industry needs to “better educate consumers about EV ownership to ease concerns—many of which, such as those related to public charging, are less problematic than they might seem when it comes to actually owning an EV.”
More than half of respondents cited “charging station availability” as a reason not to consider an EV.
Payment plan: Earlier this month, Hyundai announced that its MyHyundai with Bluelink app would now enable EV drivers to plug and charge, which eliminates “the need to use smartphones or physical credit cards,” per a news release.
The brand also unveiled an “in-app-charging feature” that allows users to “find and pay for charging within the MyHyundai with Bluelink app.”
“These new features not only simplify the charging process but also enhance the overall ownership experience, reinforcing our commitment to making electric vehicle charging more accessible and user-friendly,” Manish Mehrotra, VP of digital business planning and connected operations for Hyundai Motor North America, said in a statement.