EV Charging Joins Gas Stations in More Cash-Back Category Definitions
Several major cash-back card issuers have updated their merchant category definitions in 2026 to explicitly bundle EV charging network purchases alongside traditional gas station spend, reflecting the continued growth of electric vehicle adoption in the United States. Previously, some EV charging purchases were coded under different, lower-earning merchant categories, creating an unintentional gap for EV-owning cardholders.
Industry coverage suggests this shift is likely to continue as charging infrastructure expands and issuers compete for a growing segment of cardholders who no longer purchase traditional gasoline at all. For households that have fully transitioned to EVs, this category update can meaningfully change which card actually earns the highest rate on what is functionally their "fuel" spending category.
Consumer awareness of the update has lagged, however, with some EV owners reportedly still using cards optimized for gas station spend without realizing their EV charging category classification may have changed or that alternative cards now offer better rates specifically for charging network merchants.
If your household's transportation fuel spend has shifted from gas to EV charging, it's worth re-running your numbers — our Cashback Life Score calculator's "gas / EV charging" field is designed to capture this blended category regardless of which type of fuel your household actually uses.
Sources: Bankrate, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
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