Here’s the how many public EV charging ports the US has now
The US Joint Office of Energy and Transportation’s Q2 2024 update reveals a surge in public EV charging ports. Here’s the scoop.
Public EV charging ports are mushrooming
The Joint Office reports that there are now more than 183,000 Level 2 and DC fast charging ports across the US – that’s an increase of more than 13,000 public EV charging ports in the last quarter. (If we only count DC fast chargers, there are 43,152 charging ports and 10,662 locations.)
That puts the US at over a third of the way to reaching the Biden administration’s goal of 500,000 public ports by 2030.
As for the Q2 update on how the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) Formula Program rollout is going, there are now eight NEVI DC fast charging stations in six states and 33 public charging ports in operation.
Thirty-six states have released at least their first round of NEVI solicitations. Of these states, 23 have issued conditional awards or established agreements for more than 550 charging station locations, each with at least four fast charging ports. And four states – Maine, Pennsylvania, Colorado, and Ohio – are already in Round 2 of releasing conditional awards.
And yesterday, Wisconsin became the first state to award funding to Tribal Nations for NEVI charging stations.
Electrek’s Take
To my delight, DC fast chargers are popping up all around me. There’s a brand-new 250 kW Tesla Supercharger with 12 ports in Salem, New Hampshire, which is a huge help when we drive back from Boston, and a Rivian DC fast charger station just opened up five miles away. In April, Vermont trailblazed with its first NEVI charging station with four ports in Bradford. If you’re seeing similar EV charger rollouts in your area, I’d love to hear about it in the comments below.
There’s been press coverage in the mainstream media about how slow the NEVI rollout is, but as I’ve said before, there’s an enormous amount of groundwork that needs to be completed before these EV stations come online.
The federal and state governments are creating EV Alternative Fuel Corridors – that’s unprecedented. Everyone has started from scratch. Plus, they need to get it right because the chargers must be operational 97% of the time to qualify for NEVI funding. (Fun fact: Tesla has won the highest percentage of NEVI charging awards of any company. So I’m wondering how that’s going to work since the Supercharger team was fired.)
It may not look like the NEVI program “duck” is doing much on the surface, but it’s paddling furiously underwater. NEVI chargers will suddenly start popping up everywhere.
Read more: Here’s how the US can make EV road trips seamless
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First Solar just cut the ribbon on a huge new factory in Iberia Parish, Louisiana, and it dwarfs the New Orleans Superdome. The company’s $1.1 billion, fully vertically integrated facility spans 2.4 million square feet, or about 11 times the size of the stadium’s main arena.
The factory began production quietly in July, a few months ahead of schedule, and employs more than 700 people. First Solar expects that number to hit 826 by the end of the year. Once it’s fully online, the site will add 3.5 GW of annual manufacturing capacity. That brings the company’s total US footprint to 14 GW in 2026 and 17.7 GW in 2027, when its newly announced South Carolina plant is anticipated to come online.
The Louisiana plant produces First Solar’s Series 7 modules using US-made materials — glass from Illinois and Ohio, and steel from Mississippi, which is fabricated into backrails in Louisiana.
The new factory leans heavily on AI, from computer vision that spots defects on the line to deep learning tools that help technicians make real‑time adjustments.
Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry says the investment is already a win for the region, bringing in “hundreds of good-paying jobs and new opportunities for Louisiana workers and businesses.” A new economic impact analysis from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette projects that the factory will boost Iberia Parish’s GDP by 4.4% in its first full year at capacity. The average manufacturing compensation package comes in at around $90,000, more than triple the parish’s per capita income.
First Solar CEO Mark Widmar framed the new facility as a major step for US clean energy manufacturing: “By competitively producing energy technology in America with American materials, while creating American jobs, we’re demonstrating that US reindustrialization isn’t just a thesis, it’s an operating reality.”
This site joins what’s already the largest solar manufacturing and R&D footprint in the Western Hemisphere: three factories in Ohio, one in Alabama, and R&D centers in Ohio and California. Just last week, First Solar announced a new production line in Gaffney, South Carolina, to onshore more Series 6 module work. By the end of 2026, the company expects to directly employ more than 5,500 people across the US.
Read more: First Solar pours $330M into a new South Carolina solar factory
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No, it’s not the new Bolt. GM’s design team previewed a new high-riding “sporty Chevrolet EV” that should be brought to life.
Is Chevy launching a new sporty EV?
This is the all-electric vehicle Chevy should sell in the US. General Motors’ design team released a series of sketches previewing a sporty new Chevy EV.
Although it kinda looks like the new 2027 Chevy Bolt EV as a higher-sitting compact crossover SUV, the design offers a fresh take on what it should have looked like.
The new Bolt is essentially a modernized version of the outgoing EUV model with a similar compact crossover silhouette. Nissan adopted a similar style with the new 2026 LEAF as buyers continue shifting from smaller sedans and hatchbacks to crossovers and SUVs.
Will we see the sporty Chevy EV in real life? It’s not likely. For one, the “exploration sketch” is by GM China Advanced designer Charles Huang.
GM Design posted the sketches on its global social media page, but the caption read “Sporty Chevrolet EV for the China Market.”
It’s too bad. The Bolt could use a sporty sibling like an SS variant. Chevy introduced the Blazer EV SS (check out our review) for the 2026 model year, its fastest “SS” model yet. Packing up to 615 horsepower and 650 lb-ft of torque, the Chevy Blazer SS can race from 0 to 60 mph in 3.4 seconds when using Wide Open Watts (WOW) mode.
Will the Bolt be next? I wouldn’t get my hopes up. And if GM does bring the sporty Chevy EV to life, it will likely only be sold in China. Like all the fun cars these days.
What do you think of the design? Would you buy one of these in the US? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.
While deliveries of the 2027 Bolt are set to begin in early 2026, Chevy is offering some sweet deals on its current EV lineup, including up to $4,000 off in Customer Cash and 0% APR financing for 60 months.
Ready to test drive one? You can use our links below to find Chevy Equinox, Blazer, and Silverado EVs at a dealership near you.
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Environment
Podcast: Electricity is the base currency, Tesla Robotaxi crashes, new Porsche Cayenne EV, and more
In the Electrek Podcast, we discuss the most popular news in the world of sustainable transport and energy. In this week’s episode, we discuss electricity becoming the base currency, Tesla Robotaxi crashes, the new Porsche Cayenne EV, and more.
The show is live every Friday at 4 p.m. ET on Electrek’s YouTube channel.
As a reminder, we’ll have an accompanying post, like this one, on the site with an embedded link to the live stream. Head to the YouTube channel to get your questions and comments in.
After the show ends at around 5 p.m. ET, the video will be archived on YouTube and the audio on all your favorite podcast apps:
We now have a Patreon if you want to help us avoid more ads and invest more in our content. We have some awesome gifts for our Patreons and more coming.
Here are a few of the articles that we will discuss during the podcast:
Here’s the live stream for today’s episode starting at 4:00 p.m. ET (or the video after 5 p.m. ET:
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