Thanksgiving Week Fast-Charging Sessions Increase Nearly 50% YoY

During the Thanksgiving travel week, public fast charging stations in the US experienced nearly a 50% increase in charging sessions versus the same period in 2023. However, the actual utilization declined slightly due to a nearly 50% increase in the number of additional new fast charging ports available.

We analyzed data across public fast charging “travel” stations (excluding locations such as dealerships and requiring four or more ports) for Thanksgiving week, Monday through Sunday. Black Friday 2024 saw a 54% increase in charging sessions compared to 2023, while Wednesday, the day before Thanksgiving had the lowest year-over-year (YoY) increase in sessions at 39%. The overall average YoY increase for the week was 48%.

Thanksgiving Week: The Super Bowl of Fast Charging

While the total volume of charging sessions increased nearly 50% during the week, the average charging station utilization rate — measured as total charging session minutes per port as a percentage of open hours (typically a 24-hour period) — declined to 22% from 24% in 2023. This seemingly conflicting data point results from the number of these new “travel” fast charging ports increasing by nearly 50% since last Thanksgiving.

While many consumers, automakers, and government organizations have expressed concerns about whether charging infrastructure will keep pace with demand for charging sessions, our YoY Thanksgiving week data suggest that the fast-charging industry is indeed meeting growth in demand.

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The Sunday after Thanksgiving had the highest utilization rate for the week at 25%, meaning that the average “travel” fast charging station in the US saw six hours of EVs plugged in and charging for the day. That equates to roughly 10 charging sessions. Interestingly, the 25% utilization rate for Sunday was slightly higher than the 24% rate for Saturday, even though Saturday saw a higher volume of charging sessions. This is likely due to a higher percentage of drivers on Sunday charging for more minutes to reach their destination, whereas much of Saturday’s charging session volume may have been more for adding range, topping up for local travel, and preparing for the long drive home on Sunday.

The Saturday After Thanksgiving is the Busiest Charging Day of 2024

When looking at the top 10 days year-to-date (YTD) in 2024 for charging sessions at public DC fast chargers, Thanksgiving week was clearly the “Super Bowl of Charging” — capturing eight of the top 10 days. The Saturday after Thanksgiving saw the most charging sessions, with a nearly 24% increase over the average number of daily charging sessions throughout the year. The Sunday after Thanksgiving was second with an average lift of 21.3%. The reason for these two days being the highest is due to many travelers returning home on those two days after spending Thanksgiving with family and friends, and needing to top up before departing and stopping to charge on the road trip home.

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Black Friday, traditionally the most popular day of the year for holiday shopping, was the third busiest day of the year, likely a result of many EV drivers plugging in to replenish their car’s battery while they shopped for bargains at local shopping malls. Interestingly, two random weekend days in October and November were the only non-Thanksgiving days to crack the top 10. It is unclear why those particular days saw such high levels of charging sessions, but are part of a consistent trend of weekends seeing the highest volume of charging sessions due to weekend travel getaways.

Charger Reliability is Also Improving

In addition to EV drivers’ worries about whether there will be enough chargers to support their driving needs — commonly known as “charger anxiety” — a major concern the last few years has been around charger reliability. Simply put, are the chargers working and capable of delivering a charge to the driver’s EV? The causes of unreliable chargers are varied, ranging from hardware and software issues to broken connectors, cut cables, payment processing issues, or the charger losing cellular connectivity.

But great news for EV drivers, the Paren Reliability Index increased by 3.4 percentage points, reaching 85.5%, signaling better experiences for EV drivers compared to last year. The index incorporates multiple factors, but is a measure of whether a driver was able to initiate and complete a successful charging session. While many charge point operators (CPOs) claim “uptime” rates meet or exceed the 97% National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) minimum requirements, that metric typically only captures whether the charging system was turned on, not whether a driver was actually able to complete a charging session.

Our Paren Reliability Index indicates that the industry is making great strides in improving the charging customer experience. Much of the improvement comes from the deployment of newer, more reliable hardware, better cellular connectivity and backup options, the entry of new companies with more capital and resources to better maintain equipment, and simply a greater focus on a better experience by charging companies that are seeing increased demand, revenue, and competition.

This analysis of the Thanksgiving travel week charging behavior is just the first in a series of holiday charging insights Paren is preparing to share with the EV community, including Christmas predictions, as well as sharing the actual data after the holidays.

Interested in learning more about Paren’s comprehensive data on DC fast charging, including sessions, utilization, reliability, hardware, market level, competitive benchmarking, and more? Request a demo.

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