A 2025 AAA survey found that just over half of prospective EV buyers consider public charging a concern. Last week a 600‑mile road trip from New Hampshire to Montreal was completed in an Audi e‑tron, which has a range of about 220 miles per charge, with three charging stops and no reported delays.

Three years earlier the same route required multiple service calls and resulted in several hours of lost travel time.

The trip used the A Better Route Planner app, owned by Rivian, to schedule stops. The first stop was a Rivian charger in Lebanon, New Hampshire, offering six 300‑kilowatt chargers, all operational, and no wait time was observed. The charger accepted a credit card and delivered more than 140 kilowatts, close to the vehicle’s maximum rate. The same chargers were used on the return trip with similar results.

At a Circuit Électrique station near Montreal a card‑reader failure required the driver to download the operator’s app and add $20 Canadian before charging could continue; the session then proceeded without issue. The stop was not essential for range but was made for a break and a coffee.

Each charging session lasted about 20 minutes and was combined with a meal or rest, so the car was never idle for an extended period.

The Joint Office of Energy and Transportation reported that the United States had about 32,000 DC fast chargers in July 2023, a number that has more than doubled to over 64,000 today. Expansion by Tesla and other companies has increased access to Tesla’s network, which now allows most EV drivers to use its stations.

Paren’s reliability index, which measures successful charging sessions and station downtime, improved from 85 in 2023 to the mid‑90s in 2026. Tesla’s network remains the largest, but competition from other operators has driven overall reliability gains.

Some stations still malfunction and broken chargers are repaired more quickly than in the past, but the network continues to grow each month.

The experience shows that fast charging has become considerably more dependable, though continued expansion and maintenance will determine its long‑term consistency.