Electric-vehicle sales in the U.S. are down by half compared with last year. The EV charging industry evidently didn't get the memo.

Charging companies in the U.S. are on track to install about as many public EV plugs this year as in 2025, the industry's record high. By adding thousands of new plugs this year, charging executives say they aim to serve longtime EV owners looking for easier road trips as well as buyers flocking to used EVs -- while prepping infrastructure for a future day when EV demand might bounce back.

"I still think people are breathing into paper bags," Rick Wilmer, chief executive of the charging company ChargePoint, said of the industry's mood amid the downturn. "But the growth is real. The EV-driving community wants more chargers in the world."

Optimism has been in short supply for the EV industry since President Trump axed tax credits and fuel-economy regulations aimed at moving Americans away from gas-powered cars. Automakers have backed away from their most ambitious pro-EV goals, canceling models and axing planned ones, while listing multibillion-dollar write-downs as they retool their investments and pivot back to gas.

Even so, the U.S. by early October added nearly 2,000 charging stations with more than 12,000 plugs, according to charging-industry data firm Paren. That is roughly on pace with last year, which ended with 3,885 new charging stations added with 19,839 plugs. The U.S. now has more than 80,000 public fast-charging plugs, data shows.

More crucially, charging providers are learning from the mistakes of the past that often frustrated EV owners, said Bill Ferro, the co-founder and chief technical officer of Paren.

New stations have more plugs on average to cut down on wait time. Chargers are becoming more powerful to "refuel" EVs more quickly. And the industry is working on its real-estate game: adding more stations near restaurants and busy areas, not in distant parking lots far from restrooms or other amenities.

"I've started calling it the Great American Build-Out," Ferro said. "You don't realize you're in it until you're in the middle of it."

That build-out attempts to solve a chicken-and-egg problem that has beguiled EVs since their earliest days: without adequate charging infrastructure, people won't buy the cars.

But charging providers are building to meet future demand that still may never materialize. Today, the American EV sector remains a long way off from the lofty goals of the Biden years. That administration's policies targeted 50% of U.S. car sales to be electric, hydrogen or plug-in hybrid models by 2030.

Instead, demand for the cars never reached levels projected by the auto industry. EV sales peaked around 12% of the new-car market in the third quarter of 2025 before the tax credits went away, and have hovered around 6% this year.

Auto-industry executives frequently say they expect EV demand to eventually rise again in the U.S., especially as less expensive electric models come to market.

To be sure, charging providers also have a long way to go to reach consistent profitability as they contend with high capital costs.

ChargePoint, one of the world's largest operators, reported that revenue grew 18% year-over-year to $116 million in its second quarter, above its guidance range. Still, the company posted a net loss of $35.6 million that quarter. Another firm, EVgo, reported a net loss of $46.3 million in the second quarter.

ChargePoint's Wilmer noted that losses are narrowing and that the company has seen growth across all its business lines, including public stations and among fleet customers. Autonomous vehicles, which are overwhelmingly electric, are expected to drive charging demand.

Wilmer and other charging industry executives say there aren't enough plugs to properly serve America's current fleet of EV drivers -- let alone the ones who might join the fray later on.

The charging space's glow-up isn't happening everywhere. Growth is primarily concentrated in coastal states like California and New York, although Ferro said Texas and Florida are scaling up quickly.

Still, the industry has more than a few recent success stories. Ionna, the charging network backed by Hyundai, Toyota and other automakers, recently reported that it has more than 180 public fast-charging sites online since launching early last year.

Walmart in late August opened its 100th fast-charging station, ideal for shoppers looking to recharge -- or road-trippers in need of snacks and a restroom. More are coming from the retail giant.

The leader by a country mile remains Tesla. According to Paren, the Elon Musk-helmed company has added more than 3,500 fast-charging plugs this year, good for about 40,000 total across the U.S.

While Musk insists Tesla's future lies in robotics and AI, not selling cars, it continues to scale its charging network. The company doesn't break out charging revenue in its financial reports but lists it as part of a services business that brought in $4.6 billion in the second quarter. (Tesla didn't respond to a request for comment.)

Some industry executives are keeping a close eye on how gas prices, driven up more than 50% this year by the war with Iran, might affect consumer behavior.

Tiya Gordon, the co-founder of It's Electric, a startup that recently secured an exclusive contract to build curbside, public charging stations across New York City, thinks sustained higher fuel costs could mean a "pendulum swing" is coming for EVs -- so much so that she recently got a tattoo of the Strait of Hormuz.

"We know that the cost of everything is going up, and it's because of the price of oil," Gordon said. She thinks that could lead more people to reconsider what powers their cars. "You start to see more of your neighbors driving EVs, and you understand the benefits of it," she said.