Snapshot

The US had ~70,000 DC fast-charging (DCFC) ports and ~200,000+ total public EV charging ports at end of 2025, serving 7.3 million EVs on the road. About 18,000 new DCFC ports were added in 2025 (+30% YoY), and Paren projects ~19,500 in 2026 (+8%). The federal NEVI program ($7.5B authorized, $632M disbursed) contributed just 497 DCFC ports in 2025 — 3% of the total build. Tesla's Supercharger network holds 52% of all US DCFC ports. The four tracked companies (CHPT, BLNK, EVGO, TSLA) span three different business models: hardware/software sales, owner-operator, and vertically integrated automaker.

The US adds ~1.5M EVs per year to its fleet. At current build rates, about 19,500 new DCFC ports per year are being added — roughly 100 EVs on the road per DCFC port. At 16% average utilization and $0.49/kWh, a 150 kW DCFC port generates ~$103K/yr in gross electricity sales est.. The pure-play charging companies (CHPT, BLNK, EVGO) collectively lost $399M in 2025 on combined revenue of $899M.

The product & how money is made

EV charging has two tiers: Level 2 (L2) delivers 6–19 kW via AC, adding ~25 miles/hour — used at workplaces, apartments, and retail. DC Fast Charging (DCFC) delivers 50–350 kW (Tesla V4: up to 500 kW), adding 200 miles in 15–45 minutes — used for highway travel and fleet refueling.

• Hardware + SaaS (ChargePoint): Sells charging stations to site hosts. Revenue is hardware upfront + recurring subscriptions for cloud software (billing, scheduling, energy management). ChargePoint does not own or operate the chargers. FY2026 subscription revenue: $162M, growing 13% YoY.
• Owner-operator (EVgo): Owns and operates DCFC stations. Revenue from per-kWh electricity sales plus "eXtend" managed services for third-party station owners. FY2025 charging network revenue: $218M. Also earns ancillary revenue from fleet contracts (including a $26M one-time AV contract buyout in Q4 2025).
• Mixed owner/seller (Blink): Both sells hardware and owns/operates a network. Service revenue rose from 27% to 48% of total in 2025. Blink-owned chargers: ~8,250 of 66,350 networked units.
• Vertically integrated (Tesla): Supercharger network supports vehicle sales. Charging revenue is buried in the $12.5B "Services and Other" segment (parts, insurance, used cars). Tesla noted charging is part of ~$300M in Services gross profit for FY2025. Now open to non-Tesla vehicles via NACS standard.

The key economic unit is utilization rate — what percentage of a port's available hours are spent actively charging. National average: 16%. Top metros (D.C., Miami, LA): 25–32% est.. At 16% utilization, fixed costs (demand charges, land lease, maintenance, connectivity) eat most of revenue. Breakeven requires roughly 20–25% utilization for owner-operators est..

Paren Full Year 2025 US EV Fast Charging Report; company 10-K filings.

Demand

Contracted / committed

• NEVI program: $7.5B authorized, $632M disbursed through 2025. 42 states have approved 2026 plans. Produced 497 DCFC ports in 2025 (99 stations). The Trump administration attempted to freeze funds twice; courts ordered them unfrozen. contracted
• EVgo DOE loan: $141M drawn from a DOE loan facility for station buildout. Plans 1,050–1,250 new owned stalls in 2026 (+50% YoY). contracted
• EVgo AV fleet contracts: 140 dedicated AV stalls operational. One contract closed out for $26M in Q4 2025. contracted

Demand drivers (forecast)

• EV fleet growth: 7.3M EVs on US roads at end of 2025, up from ~6M at end of 2024. 1.5M new EVs registered in 2025 (down 4% from 2024, partly due to expiration of federal incentives in Sep 2025). BEV market share: 9.6% of new vehicle sales in 2025. est.
• Industry target: DOE's 2030 goal is 1.2M+ public charging ports (vs ~200K today). Reaching that requires ~200K new ports/yr — current pace is ~19,500 DCFC + an unknown number of L2. paper
• Autonomous fleets: Robotaxis (Waymo, Tesla) will be predominantly electric and charge around the clock. Waymo operates 100K+ paid rides/week. Each autonomous EV may average 150+ miles/day vs 30 for a personal vehicle, requiring 3–5x the public charging. est.
• NACS standardization: Ford, GM, Rivian, Hyundai, and Stellantis have adopted Tesla's NACS connector or committed to adapter access, unlocking the Supercharger network for all brands.
• Sessions growth: 141M public DCFC sessions in 2025, up 30% YoY.

Alliance for Automotive Innovation Q4 2025; Paren 2025 report; DOE AFDC; company filings.

Supply

Installed capacity

Paren Full Year 2025 report; Tesla 10-K FY2025; EVgo Q4 2025 earnings; Blink 10-K FY2025; ChargePoint Q4 FY2026 earnings.

Note on ChargePoint's 1.37M figure: These are ports connected to ChargePoint's cloud platform worldwide (mostly L2), owned by third-party site hosts. Not comparable to EVgo's 5,100 owned DCFC stalls.

Bottlenecks

• Grid interconnection: Utility approval for high-power DCFC sites takes 6–18 months. A single 10-stall DCFC site at 350 kW pulls 3.5 MW — equivalent to a small commercial building.
• Permitting: Local permitting varies widely. NEVI's relaxed guidance in October 2025 helped, but municipal approval still takes months.
• Station sizing: Average non-Tesla station size rose from 3.6 to 4.5 ports in 2025; Tesla averages 14–15 ports.
• Power levels: Share of 250+ kW ports rose from 27% (Q1) to 51% (Q4) in new 2025 deployments.
• Capital intensity: EVgo's 2025 vintage: ~$70K net capex per stall (before NEVI reimbursements and utility incentives, gross capex is higher).
• NEVI uncertainty: Two federal funding freezes in early 2026 (both court-overturned) create planning risk for the $4.9B still undisbursed.

The gap

Pricing direction

Most DCFC operators charge $0.45–0.53/kWh. Tesla Supercharger (member): $0.21–0.48/kWh. Electrify America: $0.43–0.68/kWh. Residential electricity costs ~$0.12–0.16/kWh, so public DCFC carries a 3–4x markup covering demand charges, equipment depreciation, and land. As utilization rises, fixed costs spread across more kWh, allowing either margin expansion or price cuts. Tesla's NACS opening to all brands could pressure competitor pricing — Tesla can subsidize charging from $97B auto revenue; pure-plays cannot.

TrendX Insights 2026 pricing survey; Paren 2025 report.

The players

ChargePoint Q4 FY2026; Blink Q4 2025; EVgo Q4 2025; Tesla 10-K FY2025; StockAnalysis.com for market caps.

Key distinctions

• ChargePoint sells hardware and software — not exposed to electricity costs or utilization risk. Hardware revenue fell 8% in FY2026. Subscription is the growth engine (13% YoY) but still smaller than hardware. Net debt: ~$119M. Cash runway at current burn (~$63M/yr operating CF): ~2 years without additional capital.
• Blink is the smallest. Revenue fell 17% in 2025. It raised $20M in a dilutive equity offering in December 2025. At $0.79/share, market cap ($114M) is 1.8x book value ($65M). No debt. Wrote down $18.7M of goodwill in Q4 2025.
• EVgo reached positive adjusted EBITDA ($12M in 2025), though $24M came from a one-time AV contract buyout — stripping it out, underlying EBITDA was roughly ($12M). Guides $-20M to $+20M EBITDA in 2026. Net capex per stall: ~$70K. Long-term target: 12,500 owned stalls, 25–30% EBITDA margins.
• Tesla is not separable as a charging pure-play — the Supercharger network is a rounding error in a $1.6T company. It sets the competitive floor: 52% of US DCFC ports, 99.9% uptime, lowest pricing, 14–15 stalls/station vs 4.5 for competitors.

The price of exposure

At CHPT's $199M market cap: $411M of declining revenue, $261M debt, $142M cash, $220M/yr net losses — must grow subscription revenue significantly or raise more capital. At BLNK's $114M: debt-free, $104M revenue, reduced burn rate (~$2M/quarter in late 2025 est.), but revenue shrinking. At EVGO's $747M: closest-to-profitable pure-play DCFC owner with 5,100 stalls, $384M revenue growing 50%, $207M debt partly from a government loan — positive EBITDA was propped by a one-time $24M payment.

All three pure-plays are priced below 2x revenue. SaaS companies with 10%+ revenue growth trade at 5–15x. The market is pricing significant risk of heavy dilution or failure before sustained profitability. EVgo's lower burn and DOE loan give it the longest runway; Blink's zero-debt structure provides terminal value protection; ChargePoint's $261M debt vs $142M cash is the tightest balance sheet.

Company filings; StockAnalysis.com for market caps (Jun 2, 2026).

What to deep-dive next

• EVgo unit economics by cohort: Is the $70K/stall net capex sustainable? Payback period at current utilization (24% in Q4 vs 16% national avg)? How much of EVgo's superior utilization is geographic selection (metro only) vs operational?
• ChargePoint subscription retention: Churn rate on the $162M subscription base is not disclosed. If site hosts switch to lower-cost software or bring it in-house, the growth narrative breaks.
• Tesla Supercharger P&L: Estimating from per-kWh pricing x network throughput x utilization would establish whether Tesla runs charging at a loss (to sell cars) or at a profit.
• NEVI program survival: $4.9B undisbursed from $7.5B, with two judicial stays already. If funding is permanently cut, the 2030 gap widens and subsidy-dependent deployments stall.
• Autonomous fleet charging demand: Quantify additional DCFC ports Waymo/Tesla robotaxi fleets would need at 150+ miles/day/vehicle vs 30 miles/day for personal EVs.
• Blink dilution trajectory: Shares went from 102M to 142M in 2025 (+39%). At $0.79/share, any meaningful capital raise would dilute existing shareholders dramatically.

Sources & confidence