The charging boom proved particularly propitious in March, as the Iran War roiled oil markets, gas prices surged and Americans started searching for EVs en masse. After skidding for months, Tesla sales climbed in the first quarter compared to last year. (Though they did come in under analysts\u2019 expectations.)<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s obviously been a very anti-EV situation at the federal level,\u201d said\u00a0Ingrid Malmgren, senior policy director at Plug In America, an EV advocacy group, referring to the Trump administration\u2019s gutting of subsidies and clean air regulations.\u00a0\u201cBut what we\u2019ve seen continuously is that people love their cars, and once they start driving an EV, nobody wants to go back.\u201d<\/p>\n
Most of the demand is driven by the private sector.<\/p>\n
Also see: These Southern California startups are part of a growing epicenter of EV truck production<\/a><\/p>\n Truck stops, in particular, have been adding electron pumps in a bid to sell lucrative snacks and sodas to battery-powered road trippers. Pilot Flying J Inc., an empire of interstate rest stops, added chargers to nearly 30 of its locations in the first quarter, from Mount Airy, North Carolina, to North Platte, Nebraska. The company now has nearly 1,200 charging stalls, roughly half of what it intends to stand up.<\/p>\n The goal is to offer \u201cthe same convenience, access and reliability that non-EV drivers have come to expect,\u201d\u00a0said Brandon Trama, Pilot\u2019s head of electrification.<\/p>\n In Orange County, the startup Rove<\/a> has built two EV charging stations<\/a> packed with DC fast-chargers plus amenities for drivers. A new facility opened April 8 on Harbor Boulevard in Costa Mesa.<\/p>\n Networks, meanwhile, have been emboldened by an improving business model. Recent EV buyers are more likely to live in multi-unit housing thus, more likely to charge in the wild.\u00a0And newer, more efficient chargers are\u00a0pumping more electrons in less time,\u00a0making charging more profitable.<\/p>\n That\u2019s creating a virtuous cycle, as\u00a0speedier and more reliable chargers convince more drivers to go electric and use public plugs, according to Paren, a data platform focused on EV infrastructure.<\/p>\n![\"In](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/OCR-Z-EV-CHARGING-0408-Rove_CostaMesa.jpg\")
In Orange County, the startup Rove has built two EV charging stations packed with DC fast-chargers and amenities for drivers. A new facility opened April 8 at 2666 Harbor Boulevard in Costa Mesa. (Photo courtesy of Rove)<\/p>\n