An electric vehicle charging network is an infrastructure system of charging stations to recharge electric vehicles. The term electric vehicle infrastructure (EVI) may refer to charging stations in general or the network of charging stations across a nation or region. Charging network tend to operate through shared systems of access, payment, and service
The proliferation of charging stations can be driven by charging station providers or government investment, and is a key influence on consumer behaviour in the transition from internal combustion engine vehicles to electric vehicles. While charging network vendors have in the past offered proprietary solutions limited to specific manufacturers (ex. Tesla), vendors now usually supply energy to electric vehicles regardless of manufacturer. Public charging networks have also increasingly been shaped by broader access, interoperability, and simpler payment systems.Public charging infrastructure has also grown rapidly worldwide.
Maps Charging station mapping services typically give the location, power, network, and connector type of publicly available charging stations, while more advanced services give the price and live availability of stations. Large charging networks provide maps of their own stations for customers.
PlugShare is a crowdsourced map of public, private and residential charging locations. The site uses Google Maps to provide a map of charging locations and their own database to filter by charging type. Public chargers, private chargers, and residential charging locations are listed. The service provides an app for iOS and Android which allows users to locate chargers near their current location. An account is needed to view private persons' charging locations, as these locations are at the homes or businesses of Plugshare members. Plugshare was acquired by EVgo in 2021. Plugshare is one of many leading sources of where charge stations exist, however plenty public and private stations are not updated in the app.
Open Charge Map is a non-commercial EV charging data service. They state the aim of providing a single point of reference, in a field of independent, conflicting charging data services.
Zapmap is an electric vehicle charging mapping and payment service in the UK. They share their statistics with the Department for Transport, and many local councils direct their residents to the service for locating charging stations.
OpenStreetMap is an open source map of the world which includes rich support of descriptions on charging stations. The map can be used by anyone under the ODbL license.
Market growth and scale
Public electric vehicle charging infrastructure has expanded worldwide as electric vehicle usage has increased. According to the International Energy Agency, more than 1.3 million public charging points were added globally in 2024. This was an increase of more than 30% over the previous year.
Successful development of public charging infrastructure is evident in Europe. In 2024, the IEA reported that the total number of public charging stations in europe exceeded 1 million. As an additional source for charging infrastructure within the European Union, the European Alternative Fuels Observatory publishes regularly updated statistics.
Infrastructure providers
American Facilities Professionals provides turn-key installation and integrate EV chargers into existing facility management system for long-term sustainability. Blink Charging operates a network with over 50,000 publicly available charging connectors in the US, Europe, and the UK. Also produces chargers for use in private settings. ChargePoint includes public charging stations, a consumer subscription plan and utility grid management technology to help electric utility companies to smooth electrical demands on the grid.Plug-In 2008: California Cars Initiative www.calcars.org accessed 4 September 2019 As of 2025, the ChargePoint network consisted of over 30,000 locations in more than 18 countries. Connected Kerb is a UK-based provider of electric vehicle charging infrastructure, founded in 2017, which aims to make EV charging affordable, sustainable and accessible for all regardless of social status, location or physical ability. In November 2021, the company announced plans to install 190,000 on-street residential charging points across the UK by 2030 to help EV users without access to home charging facilities. The CEO is Chris Pateman-Jones. ChargeFinder is a mobile and web application designed to assist electric vehicle (EV) drivers in locating and accessing public charging stations for electric automobiles. Elektromotive was a UK-based company that manufactured and installed charging infrastructure for electric cars and other electric vehicles using their patented Elektrobay stations. The company has partnerships with major corporations including EDF Energy and Mercedes-Benz to supply charging posts and data services. They have since been absorbed into Chargemaster, now BP Pulse. Electrify America is a DC fast charging station network based only in the United States with approximately 730 charging locations as of March 2022, the company was created by the Volkswagen Group after the United States EPA accused them of using defeat devices in its diesel-fueled vehicles. EVgo is one of America's largest EV charging networks. EV Trail is an American charging infrastructure company. Their aim is to cut rural charging gaps in Colorado. FLO is a North American electric vehicle charging network operator and a smart charging solutions provider. FLO operates in the United States and Canada. Their charging stations are assembled in Michigan and Quebec. Francis Energy is a Tulsa, Oklahoma-based EV charge point operator with plans to expand into 40 states in 2023, with plans to install 50,000 EV charging ports by 2030 in partnership with municipalities, auto dealers, Tribal Nations, and private businesses. Gridserve is a network of rapid chargers at service stations in UK. They acquired many of these chargepoints from Ecotricity's Electric Highway brand. Hypercharge is a North American smart EV charging network and solutions provider serving single-family homes, multi-family residential & commercial buildings, and fleet applications. Hypercharge was the first Canada-founded EV charging network to IPO. Park & ChargePark & Charge - Ladeinfrastruktur, die einfacher kaum geht park-charge.net, accessed 2 September 2019 is a European Charging infrastructure for electric vehicles. Park & Charge was founded in 1992 by members of the electric car club in Switzerland (ECS).Elektromobilclub der Schweiz (ECS) website www.elektromobilclub.ch accessed 4 September 2019 Today there is a Park & Charge at nearly 500 locations in Switzerland, Germany, Austria, the Netherlands and Italy, offering a safe and easy way for drivers of electric vehicles to charge their vehicle batteries. The locations of the charging stations in Europe will be published in LEMnet internet database which is operated by Park & Charge. Lectron is a multinational electric vehicle infrastructure company, known for manufacturing EV chargers, including home charging stations and portable chargers, as well as electric vehicle accessories such as adapters. The firm's products include the V-Box home charging station and charging cables such as J1772-compliant adapters.
Payment, access, and interoperability Publicly available charging networks have increasingly transitioned away from legacy proprietary or closed networks; they are increasingly influenced by features such greater access to the public, easier payment processes, and interoperability. In the U.S., the federal National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) Formula Program establishes that public charging stations must provide secure payment methods, like contactless cards that allow anyone to use them. In addition, all U.S. public charging stations must provide accessible payments for people with disabilities as well as people with limited ability to speak english.
In Europe, Alternative Fuels Infrastructure Regulation (AFIR) specify that personals shall have the ability to use ad hoc payments to access public recharging stations, as well as requiring pricing to be transparent with respect to the various price components of those services.Overall, the two regulatory processes began to shift from different approaches that utilized membership-based solutions to provide greater access to the public and uniformity among public charging networks.
Reliability and user experience The size of a charging network does not alone determine its performance. The National Renewable Energy Laboratory has reported that charging-station availability and electric vehicle supply equipment (EVSE) reliability influence electric vehicle adoption, particularly for drivers without access to home charging.https://docs.nrel.gov/docs/fy24osti/89896.pdf A charging network may appear large based on the number of chargers, but user experience can be poor if chargers are inoperable, difficult to use, or already occupied. At locations such as workplaces, higher-power chargers may reduce peak charger occupancy by shortening charging durations, although utilization also depends on vehicle arrival times and the length of time vehicles remain connected. Pricing structures may also affect user experience; subscription-based workplace charging has been studied as a way to reduce cost variability among users whose arrival times are affected by traffic delays.
Security aspects
As a cyber-physical system, EV charging infrastructure faces threats spanning both its information technology layer (back-end management, payment, and roaming systems) and its operational technology layer (charging hardware and grid-facing communication). Regulatory frameworks such as the EU's NIS2 Directive and the US NEVI program mandate cybersecurity baselines for charging network operators.
Automobile manufacturers The Renault–Nissan Alliance made agreements by 2010 to promote emission-free mobility in France, Israel, Portugal, Denmark and the U.S. state of Tennessee. In 2026, this alliance has evolved into the "Alliance 2030" which is an investment of $25 Billion between Renault Nissan and Mitsubishi to produce 35 new EVs globally and using the North American Charging Standard (NACS) platform in North America to allow vehicles to use Teslas charging network. As of 2026, Nissan has installed high speed charging stations at 90% of Nissan dealerships in Japan.
Tesla Motors, a prominent American manufacturer of electric vehicles, maintains a network of DC fast chargers for their cars (and increasingly other cars) to use. The first Tesla Supercharger stations were unveiled 24 September 2012. As of April 2026, Tesla has 8,537 open supercharging stations with 3,497 in the Asia Pacific area, 3,359 in North America and 1,681 in Europe. There are a total of 80,266 supercharging stalls open globally. Tesla has also added credit-card readers to their V4 supercharging stations allowing non-Tesla owners to charge their vehicles.
Initiatives by region
Africa South Africa
South Africa has a small, but growing EV charging station network, which includes numerous proof of concept high-capacity DC chargers, including three 400 kW chargers at Charge's N12 North West facility, a 200 kW station at the Mall of Africa in Midrand, and a 150 kW one at Canal Walk in Cape Town.
The country's charging network comprises, among other initiatives, the following:
Public charging stations through a partnership between Eskom and BYD Active charging stations: 0 Planned charging stations: 55, with a 2-year horizon National Automobile Association of South Africa Active charging stations: 0 Planned charging stations: 100, with a 5 to 7 year horizon Cape Town-based Charge's solar-powered stations, with R100 million investment from the Development Bank of Southern Africa Active charging stations: 1