The February 2026 AFDC data refresh brought notable shifts to the national EV charging landscape. The total station count dropped by 1,809 (-2.1%), and ports decreased by 5,301 (-1.9%). At the same time, the network expanded geographically with 23 new cities gaining their first charging stations.
State-Level Changes
| State | Change | Current Total |
|---|---|---|
| Largest Decreases | ||
| California | -315 | 20,080 |
| Texas | -194 | 5,211 |
| New York | -155 | 5,361 |
| North Carolina | -138 | 3,019 |
| Virginia | -97 | 2,510 |
| Notable Gains | ||
| Massachusetts +8 cities | +30 | 2,649 |
| Idaho +3 cities | +8 | 305 |
| Montana +2 cities | +5 | 182 |
California lost the most stations in absolute terms but remains the national leader with 20,080 stations. Massachusetts was the biggest gainer, adding 30 stations across 8 new cities.
Network Changes
ChargePoint and Blink saw the largest declines, accounting for over 40% of removed stations. These reductions likely reflect the consolidation of duplicate listings rather than physical station closures.
23 New Cities
Despite the overall decrease in station count, the charging network expanded to 23 new cities across 9 states, extending coverage into rural and underserved areas.
Massachusetts
Idaho
Montana
Oregon
New Mexico
Wyoming
South Dakota
Nevada
Utah
Notable additions include Kooskia, Idaho, which opened its first station on February 5, 2026, bringing charging access to a remote community along US Route 12 in the Clearwater River corridor.
What This Means
The net decrease in stations and ports most likely reflects ongoing AFDC data cleanup and deduplication rather than a real loss of physical infrastructure. Several indicators support this: the geographic expansion to 23 new cities, the concentration of removals among networks known to have had duplicate listings, and the absence of any major operator announcing large-scale closures. The AFDC periodically reconciles its database with operator-reported data, which can result in short-term count drops as stale or duplicated entries are removed.
For EV drivers, the practical impact is minimal — the stations that were removed were largely data artifacts, not chargers you could plug into. Meanwhile, the expansion into rural communities in Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming represents meaningful new access for long-distance travel.
Data source: U.S. Department of Energy Alternative Fuels Station Locator. Station counts compare the January 31 and February 7, 2026 data snapshots. This analysis covers public and private EV charging stations (ELEC fuel type) in all 50 states and DC.