Written By: Anastasia McMahon
Last Updated: September 28, 2026 07:55 PM
The EV charging industry has entered a new phase. The focus is no longer simply on putting more chargers in the ground. As the number of electric vehicles grows, charging providers, charge point operators (CPOs), and businesses are increasingly focused on a bigger question: How do we build charging networks that are reliable, connected, convenient, and economically sustainable?
The U.S. had a record year for public charging deployment in 2025. The country added 20% more public charging points than the previous year, while its fast and ultra-fast charging network grew by approximately 30% to nearly 70,000 charging points. The IEA projects that U.S. public charging infrastructure will continue expanding significantly through 2035.
But scaling infrastructure comes with new challenges. More chargers mean more connected devices, more energy demand, more data, and more opportunities for downtime or poor customer experiences.
For EV charging providers planning for the years ahead, several trends are becoming increasingly important.
Adding charging stations is only valuable when those stations actually work.
Reliability has become one of the most important issues facing the public charging ecosystem. Research from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory has identified broken components, connectivity and communication problems, payment failures, and power-source issues among the causes of charging failures.
That makes real-time monitoring and connectivity critical pieces of the charging infrastructure, not just an afterthought.
Operators need visibility into questions such as:
Federal requirements for federally funded charging infrastructure call for greater than 97% annual uptime, while the national ChargeX Consortium has established an aspirational goal for public charging stations to successfully charge vehicles the first time, every time.
Connectivity plays a major role in achieving those goals. A charger can have perfectly functioning hardware and still become effectively unusable if it loses communication with its network.
Kajeet recently partnered with Voltra to integrate Kajeet Sentinel into its Voltra Charge platform, giving operators visibility into their Kajeet smartSIM connectivity alongside their charging operations through a single interface.
With the integration, operators can view information such as carrier, data usage, SIM and device identifiers, while also managing data limits and SIM nicknames. By bringing connectivity management into the same platform used to manage charging infrastructure, Voltra Charge gives operators greater visibility and control across their deployments. It’s one example of how connectivity is becoming an integral part of building more resilient, scalable EV charging networks.
For operators, that means cellular connectivity, remote monitoring, alerts, diagnostics, and actionable analytics should be considered part of the charging solution itself.
For drivers, charging is an experience shaped by everything that happens around it. Public charging can mean spending 20 minutes, or considerably longer, at a location. That creates an opportunity for charging providers and site hosts to rethink what happens while a vehicle is plugged in.
Charging hubs are increasingly being designed around convenience, with amenities such as Wi-Fi, restrooms, food and beverage options, comfortable seating, retail, and other nearby services. The technology experience matters, too. Drivers expect charging to be straightforward: easy to locate, easy to start, easy to pay for, and easy to monitor.
The industry is actively working on this challenge. For example, NREL and the ChargeX Consortium have been developing solutions such as “seamless retry,” which can automatically restart certain failed charging sessions instead of requiring drivers to unplug and reconnect the vehicle themselves.
Connector standardization is another important part of the experience. SAE J3400, based on the North American Charging Standard (NACS), provides a standardized connector that can be used across EVs and charging equipment.
The takeaway for charging providers is simple: the charger itself is only one part of the customer experience.
As charging deployments grow, so does the amount of electricity they require. That makes simply adding more power an increasingly expensive solution. Instead, charging operators are looking toward smart charge management to determine when and how vehicles should charge.
Smart charging can coordinate EVs, chargers, buildings, and energy systems based on factors such as electricity rates, facility demand, vehicle schedules, and available capacity. According to the U.S. Department of Energy, these strategies can reduce electricity costs, mitigate demand charges, optimize fleet operations, and potentially reduce the need for costly electrical infrastructure upgrades.
Energy storage and onsite generation can complement these strategies. Solar, batteries, and other distributed energy resources can help charging sites manage demand and make better use of locally generated electricity.
The next evolution is bidirectional charging. Instead of electricity flowing only from the grid to the vehicle, compatible EVs and charging equipment can potentially send energy back to a building or the grid. Vehicle-to-building (V2B) applications can provide backup power or help manage building demand, while vehicle-to-grid (V2G) applications can provide grid services where the necessary technology, utility programs, and interconnection arrangements are available.
In other words, EV charging infrastructure is increasingly becoming part of the broader energy ecosystem.
The future of EV charging isn't limited to passenger cars. Electrification is also moving into commercial fleets, delivery vehicles, buses, and heavy-duty trucking. These vehicles have different charging requirements – and significantly greater power demands.
Heavy-duty electric trucks, for example, require charging infrastructure capable of supporting large batteries and demanding operating schedules. NREL researchers are helping advance the Megawatt Charging System (MCS), a global standard designed to support charging at power levels of up to 3.75 megawatts.
This creates opportunities for charging providers while introducing new infrastructure considerations around power availability, site design, connectivity, load management, and uptime. For businesses developing charging infrastructure today, planning for future vehicle types can help ensure that today's investment doesn't become tomorrow's limitation.
As the charging market becomes more competitive, building a sustainable business model will be just as important as deploying the hardware. Charging fees are one revenue source, but providers and site hosts can explore additional opportunities that complement the charging experience.
Digital signage, for example, can create opportunities for advertising, sponsored content, local business partnerships, and customer communications. Charging locations with significant dwell time can provide an attractive environment for relevant, location-based advertising.
Sponsored Wi-Fi can provide another potential revenue stream while improving the customer experience – particularly at charging hubs where drivers may spend extended periods of time.
Partnerships with nearby retailers, restaurants, hotels, entertainment venues, and other businesses can also create mutually beneficial opportunities. The goal is to turn charging time into valuable time for both the driver and the businesses surrounding the charging location.
At the same time, operators should closely monitor utilization, energy costs, maintenance expenses, downtime, and other operational metrics to understand whether each site is delivering the expected return on investment.
The future of EV charging will depend on more than expanding the charging network. Reliability, performance, and uptime will play an equally important role.
Reliable connectivity and real-time monitoring can help operators identify issues before they become major problems. Better customer experience can build confidence and encourage repeat usage. Smart charging and energy management can help control costs and make better use of available grid capacity. New charging standards and high-power systems can support a broader range of vehicles. And creative revenue strategies can help make charging infrastructure more financially sustainable.
As the U.S. charging network continues to expand, these capabilities will become increasingly important. The opportunity for EV charging providers is to think beyond the charger itself – and build a connected ecosystem that is reliable for operators, convenient for drivers, and sustainable for the long term.
Kajeet can help EV charging providers build the connectivity and IoT foundation behind reliable, connected charging infrastructure. From wireless connectivity and remote visibility to network management and security, Kajeet helps organizations keep critical infrastructure connected and operational.
Anastasia has been with Kajeet since 2023 and has been working in the wireless technology space for 4 years. She is a proud alum of the University of South Carolina (go Gamecocks!) and lives in Columbia, South Carolina with her husband and golden doodle, Millie.
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