Tesla’s Supercharger network got 15% more expensive in a year for drivers who are not Tesla members, while rival fast-charging networks held their prices flat. Paren, which tracks the industry, found that Tesla’s non-member rate averaged 56.9 cents per kilowatt-hour in the third quarter of 2026, up 15% from a year earlier. Non-Tesla networks averaged about 53.3 cents per kilowatt-hour, flat for the fifth straight quarter.
Tesla’s members pay less, but not by a fixed amount. The member average was 39.6 cents per kilowatt-hour, up 9% over the same period.
Paren’s price data: 56.9 cents against 53.3
The figures come from Paren’s third-quarter report on the state of U.S. fast charging, as summarized by Electrek’s Michelle Lewis on Oct. 13, 2026. The gap by membership is now wide: a non-member now pays about 3.6 cents per kilowatt-hour more than the average across other networks, while a Tesla member pays about 13.7 cents less. Paren attributes the national increase to Tesla, since the other networks did not move.
The national average fast-charging price was 54 cents per kilowatt-hour, up 2.7% from a year earlier, and Paren ties that rise to Tesla. At stations that use time-of-use pricing, peak rates averaged 63.7 cents and off-peak rates 43.8 cents, a gap of nearly 20 cents. Timing, in other words, can move a driver’s cost almost as much as the choice of network.
Readers noticed the pricing change. The top comment under Electrek’s piece, from a reader identified as Chris M, observed that Tesla’s rate increases were far larger than the national average. The data supports that reading: the national average rose 2.7%, Tesla’s non-member rate rose 15% and its member rate 9%, and the networks outside Tesla did not move at all. Paren ties the rise in the national average to Tesla, so its pricing moves the national figure for the whole industry.
A network still adding ports faster than anyone
None of this has slowed Tesla’s building. Operators added 4,106 fast-charging ports at 664 stations from July through September, bringing the U.S. total to 80,964 ports across 14,614 locations, per the report. A year earlier, Electrek’s coverage of the third-quarter 2025 Paren report described the same dynamic of Tesla leading growth while rivals closed in. This time Tesla added 1,287 ports in the quarter, plus 124 more through its Supercharger for Business program, and its new stations averaged 13.1 ports. It opened 11 sites with at least 24 stalls, the largest a 48-stall site in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
Competitors are expanding too. IONNA added 378 ports, more than double its second-quarter total, and about 44 of its stations came from converting former Circle K sites, which Paren counts as new infrastructure. Walmart added 344 ports. New non-Tesla sites averaged five ports, up from 4.1 a year earlier, and sites with one or two ports made up under a third of new non-Tesla stops, down from nearly half. The quarter was slower than the one before it: 4,618 ports opened in the second quarter, per Paren’s earlier report, and through September port additions were about 9% lower than the same period last year.
Power levels, usage and reliability
The hardware being installed is getting faster. Paren found that 73% of new ports were rated at 250 kilowatts or higher, up from 60% a year earlier, and outside Tesla, ports rated at 400 kilowatts or more made up 35% of additions, up from 10%. Faster ports let a car add range quickly, but a higher kilowatt rating does not by itself lower the price per kilowatt-hour a driver pays, which is why the pricing split matters to the person holding the plug.
Usage keeps climbing. Paren tracked 50.4 million fast-charging sessions in the quarter, up 26% year over year, with July setting a monthly record of 17.6 million. National utilization, the share of monitored time a port spends charging a vehicle, was 15.9%, against 15.8% in the second quarter, and the 30 largest markets averaged 21.1% against 11% elsewhere. Los Angeles led the metros at 31.8%.
Reliability improved as well. The national reliability score was 93.9, and 50 of 52 states and territories scored at least 90, up from 46 a year earlier. Only Oklahoma and Vermont were below 90. Paren’s index counts successful sessions, retries, failed attempts and downtime, not just uptime. The report adds that urban markets received 90% of the quarter’s new stations, with rural markets getting 68 of the 664 additions.
Whether the fast-rising Tesla rate holds will show in the next quarterly report. The earlier “Charging 2.0” analysis from Electrek described an industry moving from build-out to competition on experience, and a 15% non-member price rise shows how far Tesla’s pricing has moved while rivals stayed put. Paren publishes its quarterly findings on its reports page.
This article was produced with the assistance of AI and reviewed by Morning Overview editors prior to publication.
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