State of EV Charging — Q2 2026
Welcome to Symbioen's Q2 2026 State of EV Charging report, our quarterly view of how public EV charging infrastructure is developing in Sweden and Norway, with implications for the wider European market. Symbioen turns public infrastructure data into comparable reliability, availability, utilisation and transition-derived session metrics. The two markets show different relationships between infrastructure growth, use and observed service outcomes.
Electric vehicle sales in Europe kept climbing through 2026: the IEA projects global electric car sales to reach 23 million in 2026, representing 28% of total car sales, with Europe projected to grow around 20%; ACEA shows battery-electric cars at 20% of new EU registrations through May, and Norway remained near full electrification in new-car sales through mid-year.123 The observed station inventory across Sweden and Norway grew from 12 739 at the Q1 baseline to 14 006 in the Q2 snapshot (+9.9%). Across that Q2 inventory, average time utilisation sat at 11.3% (Sweden) and 10.2% (Norway). The IEA expects utilisation to rise as Europe's charging network matures.4Current use remains unevenly distributed across infrastructure built ahead of the demand it is expected to serve.
National averages should not be read as uniform station-level demand. As use grows unevenly, capital allocation, maintenance planning and regulatory attention increasingly depend on identifying where assets are active, where capacity remains underused and where reliability remains uneven.
The investor lens has moved from land-grab expansion toward operating discipline and sustainable profitability.5 The question is no longer only how many ports to build, but how well existing assets work. Larger platforms are gaining share, while consolidation is already visible in parts of the market, including Norway. Combined with uneven asset performance and a stronger focus on portfolio optimisation, this suggests that M&A activity is likely to remain active through Q3 and Q4. Meanwhile, infrastructure built ahead of demand is ageing into uneven maintenance, and reliability that goes unmeasured goes unmanaged.
The AFIR review opened in Q2 as a public consultation. The Commission is examining whether some planning and reporting requirements create unnecessary administrative burden while also considering certification schemes, compliance monitoring and further harmonisation of National Access Points.6 The direction of the questions matters: reducing reporting friction and improving the credibility of shared data are being considered together. Both require definitions and measurements that can be reproduced independently.
Availability and session outcomes describe different parts of the service. Swedish stations were observed in an available state ~96% of the time in Q2; Session Success Rate was 87.4%. Norway recorded 86.7% against ~95%. The 8.2-point and 8.1-point differences compare time-based status availability with the share of detected attempts that met a duration-based success criterion. They are not a single conversion funnel, but the divergence shows that available status alone does not establish a successful charging outcome.
External research gives that service-quality gap a commercial frame. Porsche Consulting and &Charge estimate that poor fast-charging usability could put €46 billion of European CPO revenue at risk by 2030; 44% of surveyed EV drivers said they avoid certain operators after a bad experience.7The performance gap is therefore not only an operational measure; it influences customer behaviour, commercial performance and portfolio risk.
The clearest Q2 divergence was between scale and service outcomes. Sweden's observed station inventory grew 12.7% from its Q1 baseline while Session Success Rate declined 2.4 points. Norway's inventory grew more slowly, but utilisation rose 1.85 points between the first and last full weeks, while the quarter-level Session Success Rate improved slightly against its Q1 aggregate baseline. Expansion, use and service quality did not move together. That is why the country sections below keep infrastructure scale, observed availability, utilisation and session outcomes visible as separate but related measures.
Symbioen provides a trust layer for these decisions: an independent, reproducible view of public infrastructure data. It helps stakeholders compare operator-reported availability with observed service quality, understand the wider market and benchmark individual assets or portfolios against it.
- IEA, Global EV Outlook 2026.
- ACEA, New car registrations: +4% in May 2026 year-to-date; battery-electric 20% market share.
- OFV, Nordisk halvårsstatus: Danmark driver veksten, Norge leder elektrifiseringen, July 9, 2026.
- IEA, Electric vehicle charging, Global EV Outlook 2026.
- Strategy&, EV charging market outlook 2026.
- European Alternative Fuels Observatory, AFIR review: shaping Europe's alternative fuels network, May 2026.
- Porsche Consulting × &Charge, The Fast Charging Usability Index, 2025.
Q2 2026 Summary
Sweden vs Norway — infrastructure and reliability metrics, Q2 2026.
Availability averaged ~95.6% (SE) / ~94.8% (NO). Session Success Rate was 87.4% (SE) and 86.7% (NO) — a 8.2-point and 8.1-point difference between time-based status availability and the share of detected attempts meeting the duration-based success criterion. The indicators have different denominators and should be read together, not as one conversion funnel.
Compared with the Q1 baseline, the fail rate rose in Sweden (10.2% → 12.6%) and improved slightly in Norway (13.7% → 13.3%). The countries' Session Success Rates consequently converged from a 3.5-point difference to 0.7 points.
Observed station inventory grew from 8 599 to 9 693 (+12.7%), but quarter-level Session Success Rate declined from its Q1 aggregate baseline of 89.8% to 87.4%. Growth and observed service quality moved in opposite directions.
Inventory, quarter-event coverage and the last full-week scored cohort are different measures. In Sweden they are 9 693, 8 611 and 6 950 stations respectively; absence from a scored cohort is not treated as a proven failure.
Norway's Utilisation increased from 9.25% to 11.10% between the first and last full weeks, while quarter-level Session Success Rate improved slightly from its Q1 aggregate baseline of 86.3% to 86.7% (+0.4pp).
Norway produced more detected attempts despite a smaller observed inventory and had a heavier above-22 kW mix (44.8% vs 28.4%). This is a usage-pattern signal, not a direct comparison of energy delivered or total demand.
Power distribution
Stations by maximum available charging power · Q2 2026
All 66 networks
Boxes cover 9 677 inventory stations assigned to the listed networks · size proportional to station count · station delta vs Q1 · power mix by station max kW
Network Rankings
All 66 networks ranked by Symbioen Reliability Index · Q2 2026
Network rankings use Bayesian adjustment to limit small-cohort volatility. Delta compares rank position with the published Q1 baseline; because Q1 used an earlier Index version, it reflects methodology and cohort changes as well as underlying performance.
Network names reflect entity labels submitted to National Access Points and may refer to CPOs, eMSPs, platforms, owners or other entities; an eMSP may differ from the site owner or operator. Symbioen reports these labels alongside reliability metrics; corrections are the responsibility of the submitting data provider.
Municipality Rankings
All 289 municipalities ranked by Symbioen Reliability Index · Q2 2026
Municipality rankings use the unadjusted average Index rather than the Bayesian adjustment applied to networks. Infrastructure footprint is not used as a confidence weight, so small measured cohorts can produce more volatile scores. Delta compares rank position with the published Q1 baseline, which used an earlier Index version.
Sweden — Key Findings
Infrastructure scale and service outcomes, Q2 2026.
Sweden's observed station inventory grew from 8 599 to 9 693 (+12.7%), while charging points grew from 49 709 to 55 976 (+12.6%). Over the same Q1-to-Q2 comparison, the transition-derived Session Success Rate moved from 89.8% to 87.4% (-2.4pp). The Q2 signal is expansion without a matching improvement in observed session outcomes.
Coverage has three distinct layers: 9 693 stations in the Q2 inventory snapshot, 8 611 with at least one Q2 status event, and 6 950 in the last full-week scored cohort. 1 082 inventory stations had no Q2 status events; the remaining difference reflects stations that had some quarter activity but were not in the last full-week scored cohort.
Availability averaged 95.57%, while 12.6% of 3.7M+ detected attempts did not meet the duration-based success criterion. The 8.2-point difference compares two indicators with different denominators; it shows why an available status alone cannot establish a successful charging outcome.
Power distribution
Stations by maximum available charging power · Q2 2026
All 24 networks
Boxes cover 4 214 inventory stations assigned to the listed networks · size proportional to station count · station delta vs Q1 · power mix by station max kW
Network Rankings
All 24 networks ranked by Symbioen Reliability Index · Q2 2026
Network rankings use Bayesian adjustment to limit small-cohort volatility. Delta compares rank position with the published Q1 baseline; because Q1 used an earlier Index version, it reflects methodology and cohort changes as well as underlying performance.
Network names reflect entity labels submitted to National Access Points and may refer to CPOs, eMSPs, platforms, owners or other entities; an eMSP may differ from the site owner or operator. Symbioen reports these labels alongside reliability metrics; corrections are the responsibility of the submitting data provider.
Municipality Rankings
332 of 335 municipalities ranked by Symbioen Reliability Index · 3 not scored · Q2 2026
Municipality rankings use the unadjusted average Index rather than the Bayesian adjustment applied to networks. Infrastructure footprint is not used as a confidence weight, so small measured cohorts can produce more volatile scores. Delta compares rank position with the published Q1 baseline, which used an earlier Index version.
Norway — Key Findings
Infrastructure scale and service outcomes, Q2 2026.
Norway's observed station inventory grew from 4 140 to 4 313 (+4.2%), while charging points grew by 4.6%. Utilisation increased from 9.25% to 11.10% between the first and last full weeks (+1.85pp), a stronger use signal than the quarter average alone reveals.
Coverage spans 4 313 inventory stations, 3 850 stations with at least one Q2 status event, and 3 503 stations in the last full-week scored cohort. 463 inventory stations had no Q2 status events.
Norway recorded 4.2M+ detected attempts despite its smaller inventory, alongside a 44.8% share of stations above 22 kW versus 28.4% in Sweden. Quarter-level Session Success Rate improved slightly from its Q1 aggregate baseline of 86.3% to 86.7%, while Availability averaged 94.78%. Bremanger, Hjelmeland and Sokndal are shown as not scored because no eligible municipality Index was available; that status does not by itself prove complete non-functionality.
More chargers did not automatically mean better service.
Independent EV charging intelligence — Q2 2026.
Q2's core finding is divergence. Sweden expanded its observed inventory by 12.7%, but its transition-derived Session Success Rate fell 2.4points. Norway expanded more slowly, while utilisation increased through the full-week observations and Session Success improved slightly. More infrastructure, more use and better service outcomes are related goals, but the quarter shows they do not move together automatically.
Operators should prioritise high-use stations where Availability and session indicators diverge. Asset owners should test the same comparison during due diligence; municipalities and site hosts should use it in service-level reviews. This shift from charger count to service quality requires measurement independent of the party being measured. Q3 should test whether Sweden's session outcome recovers as its larger inventory matures and whether Norway's utilisation gains persist; that history cannot be reconstructed later.
About Symbioen
Symbioen is the independent reliability intelligence layer for EV charging infrastructure. We provide data and insights for charging infrastructure analysis, verification, technical due diligence, risk assessment, asset health audits, board decks and regulatory filings.
Every station score in the Symbioen Index is produced by a transparent methodology. Aggregation then reflects the comparison unit: network rankings use Bayesian adjustment to limit small-cohort volatility, while municipality rankings use an unadjusted average. This makes the basis of each comparison explicit and lets the evidence serve an investment committee, a municipality, an operator, an insurer or a site host, including direct use in SLA contracts and fleet dashboards.
Private and restricted-access charging, such as fleet depots and employee-only car parks, can sit outside public National Access Point data. Retail and hotel chargers may still be publicly accessible when customers can use them. For assets outside public reporting, Symbioen supports independent service-quality assessment for SLA reviews and day-to-day performance management.
Four ways to use the same data intelligence.
Coverage includes historical data for Norway, Sweden and Finland, with other EU countries available on demand.
Pilots, feed verification, compliance reviews, and bespoke reliability projects — all built on the same independent methodology.