# A 600-mile road trip (and data) proves EV charging doesn’t suck anymore

- URL: https://talkfuse.com/story/a-600-mile-road-trip-and-data-proves-ev-charging-doesnt-suck-anymore/
- Published: 2026-07-18T14:32:00+00:00
- Updated: 2026-07-21T03:14:57+00:00
- Original publisher: TechCrunch
- Original article: https://techcrunch.com/2026/07/18/a-600-mile-road-trip-and-data-proves-ev-charging-doesnt-suck-anymore/
- Topics: Software

## Key points

- EV charging network reliability has markedly improved since 2023
- 600-mile Montreal trip had near-flawless charging, one minor card reader glitch
- Contrasts sharply with a troubled, shorter 2023 road trip to Maine

## Summary

A TechCrunch writer's 600-mile road trip to Montreal suggests that electric vehicle fast-charging infrastructure in the United States has significantly improved since it was widely criticised a few years ago. Using an Audi e-tron with roughly 220 miles of range, the author found the charging experience almost entirely smooth, in stark contrast to a similarly-sized trip in 2023 that was plagued by broken chargers and customer service delays. The comparison matters because public charging reliability remains a major deterrent for prospective EV buyers, with AAA finding just over half of those it surveyed last year cited it as a key concern.

Using the route-planning app A Better Routeplanner, the author's first stop was a Rivian-owned charging station in New Hampshire with six working 300-kilowatt chargers and no queues, delivering over 140 kilowatts to the car. The only issue arose at a Circuit Électrique station near Montreal, where a faulty card reader required downloading an app instead; each of the three charging sessions on the trip took about 20 minutes and was combined with rest stops, meaning the car was never waited on. This was a marked improvement on a 2023 trip to Maine, roughly half the distance, during which chargers broke mid-session and required customer service calls to resolve.

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Summarised by TalkFuse (https://talkfuse.com/). Quote the original publisher for the reporting and link this page for the summary and discussion.