EVwire brief: Tesla remained the largest builder of new public fast chargers in the United States during the second quarter of 2026, but new industry data suggests the gap between the Supercharger network and its competitors is gradually narrowing as charging providers expand their footprints and embrace the North American Charging Standard (NACS).
The US public DC fast-charging network grew to 77,776 ports across 14,514 stations by the end of Q2 2026, according to Paren's latest State of the EV Charging Industry report. Operators added 4,382 new ports and 806 new stations during the quarter, a rebound from Q1's seasonal low, though still about 10% behind Q2 2025's pace.
While Tesla continued leading new deployments with 1,185 ports, the broader charging industry continued to diversify as Walmart, ChargePoint, Red E, Electrify America, EVgo, Ionna, and other operators accelerated their own expansion efforts.
Here's how the quarter's additions broke down by network, as per Paren data.
Network | New Ports (Q2) | Share of Q2 Total | All-Time Ports | All-Time Share |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Tesla | 1,185 | 27.0% | 38,733 | 49.8% |
Walmart | 368 | 8.4% | 612 | 0.8% |
ChargePoint | 333 | 7.6% | 4,713 | 6.1% |
Red E | 315 | 7.2% | 1,974 | 2.5% |
Electrify America | 202 | 4.6% | 5,185 | 6.7% |
EVgo | 197 | 4.5% | 3,963 | 5.1% |
Ionna | 186 | 4.2% | 1,201 | 1.5% |
Pilot Flying J | 146 | 3.3% | 1,279 | 1.6% |
Mercedes-Benz HPC | 120 | 2.7% | 872 | 1.1% |
Blink | 113 | 2.6% | 2,123 | 2.7% |
Other Networks | 1,217 | 27.8% | 17,121 | 22.0% |
TOTAL | 4,382 | 100% | 77,776 | 100% |
Here are some highlights from Paren’s Q2 2026 State of the EV Charging Industry report.
Tesla still builds the biggest charging sites
Tesla continues to operate significantly larger charging stations than its competitors. During Q2, Tesla averaged 12.1 charging ports per station, compared with 4.4 ports per station across non-Tesla operators.
While Tesla has increasingly focused on opening more locations rather than expanding existing ones, other charging providers have steadily increased the size of their sites over the past year.
NACS adoption continues accelerating
NACS adoption also kept climbing among non-Tesla networks. The connector reached 22.9% of new non-Tesla ports in Q2, more than double its roughly 10% share a year ago, as more operators add it alongside CCS rather than replacing it outright.
CCS still accounts for 70.8% of new non-Tesla builds, and across the installed non-Tesla base, CCS holds nearly three-quarters of all ports versus just 8% for NACS, so full parity between the two standards remains years off.
Ultra-fast charging is becoming the new standard
Charging providers are also deploying faster hardware. Approximately 62% of new non-Tesla charging ports installed during Q2 supported 250 kW or higher, up from 39% during the same period last year.
Including Tesla's deployments, roughly 72% of all new charging ports installed during the quarter offered at least 250 kW, suggesting ultra-fast charging has become the industry's default for new construction.
Context:
Loren McDonald, Paren's former Chief Analyst and now CEO of Chargeonomics, wrote the report's guest analysis and pointed to a broader industry shift underway.
"CPOs are focusing on reliability, customer experience, and strategic growth, heading toward profitability. […] The industry is also entering a clear Charging 2.0 phase.
“Newer players such as Ionna, Walmart, Red E, Mercedes-Benz HPC, and Pilot Flying J are aggressively building national footprints, while Tesla, Electrify America, and EVgo are increasingly using a retail clustering strategy, adding stations within existing urban markets to capture more share of charge.”
Geographically, growth stayed spread out rather than concentrated: California led all states with roughly 120 new stations, about one in seven of the quarter's total, followed by Texas, Florida, Illinois, and New York.
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