What’s next for EV charging companies
For EVs to become the mainstream choice of automobile, they’ll need to match gas-powered cars in terms of effective range and refueling convenience. That means more EV chargers (particularly DC Fast Chargers) will need to be built, and the range offered by EV batteries will need to improve. Surveys show that the top barriers to EV adoption are range anxiety and the need for fast, convenient charging.
That sentiment, along with Edison Electric Institute's estimate that more than 42.2 million chargers will be needed by 2035 to support 78.5 million EVs, suggests that the ability to quickly build up a reliable EV charging network is a make-or-break issue for the industry. However, the EV charger market has faced challenges that could slow its progress:
- President Trump's "big, beautiful bill" ended EV tax credits, which is expected to significantly slow EV sales and adoption. EV sales declined year over year in the first and second quarters of 2026, according to Cox Automotive.
- Twenty states and Washington, D.C., sued the federal government over the Department of Transportation (DOT) withholding funding from the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) program. In January 2026, a federal judge agreed that DOT withheld about $1 billion and granted summary judgment to the plaintiffs.
- In February 2026, Congress passed a bill that cut $503.8 million in NEVI funding. The Trump administration's proposed fiscal 2027 budget is even more aggressive and would cancel all unobligated NEVI funds (about $4.2 billion).
It's a turbulent time for the EV market, and states have struggled to spend the funds allocated through the NEVI program. Of the originally allocated $5 billion in funding, only about 15% ($757.3 million) is obligated to projects as of October 2026. More EV chargers are needed to keep the industry growing, but funding will depend on what happens in Washington.
