A J.D. Power survey indicates that one of the most critical roadblocks to wider EV adoption is the failure of EV charging stations to provide consistent service to their customers. If you want to attract new customers and keep the ones you have, discover how to run fail-safe EV charging stations.
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Even though the survey points out that Tesla’s offer to open access to its famed Superchargers to owners of non-Tesla cars “could improve the situation,” it’s not enough to stop the bleeding out in customer satisfaction among EV owners. Unfortunately, customers have given public EV charging stations a solid “F” – well under 70% across the board, including DC fast chargers. Only Tesla’s Supercharger network gained a passing score, but that score was only a high “D”, about 74%.
For that reason, it behooves EV charging infrastructure professionals to identify and remedy all the causes of EV charging station failure. Here’s a roadmap to achieve those goals.
What Are the Causes of EV Charging Station Failure?
The J.D. Power survey identified some of the main issues EV owners experienced when they charged their cars. These “least satisfying aspects” of EV charging continue to irritate drivers – and, if left unaddressed, could lead to decreased EV adoption if charging’s negative word-of-mouth reputation morphs into skepticism. These issues include the following:
- Slow charging speeds
- Public charging availability
- Cost of using public chargers
- Lack of activities to take part in while charging
The survey points out that the root cause of availability is charger reliability. When “one of every five visits ends without charging,” as the survey found, the EV charging industry has a problem it needs to solve—pronto.
So, let’s look at some possible solutions that could eventually make EVs the vehicle of choice for American drivers. Fail-safe charging stations are the key to overcoming these roadblocks to adoption.
The Road to Fail-Safe EV Charging Stations
No matter how sweet the government incentives for EV adoption, only exceptional customer experience and superior performance will drive the American public to consider buying an EV for their next vehicle. Instead of relying on legislation, the EV industry and its charging partners need to step up to the plate to solve these problems. Here, we’ll look at solutions to each of these challenges.
The Most Difficult Challenge: Solving the Charging Speed Problem
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With an 80% fill-up time of 20 minutes to an hour, even DC fast chargers aren’t a match for gas pumps that can deliver a completely full tank in two minutes. Reducing this time needs to be a high priority for both carmakers and EV charging companies.
That’s about to change. Early in 2024, Google-backed EV charging company Gravity installed 24 chargers in a New York City parking facility. These game-changing chargers can deliver 200 miles of range in five minutes, cutting even the fastest available chargers by a factor of four.
Talk about a New York minute. If this trend goes nationwide – or if other charging companies come up with even faster ways to charge an EV – this could change the transportation playing field forever.
Tackling Charging Availability
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Charging stations are becoming more visible throughout the US, especially in larger cities. Level 2 charging stations are popping up in shopping centers, alongside gas stations, and even in public parking lots.
DC fast charging stations have appeared along major highways, dotting the landscape with EV charging opportunities in both standalone facilities and large fueling stations’ facilities. Of course, building more charging stations should be on the short-term radar of every EV charging infrastructure company.
However, as the Power survey observes, these stations need to up their game when it comes to charger reliability. About 20% of EV drivers have experienced the frustration of pulling up to an inoperable charger or facing long lines to use a charging port.
As Car and Driver’s John Voelcker points out, studies show that the two availability issues that most often plague public charging stations include the following:
- Station connectivity
- Internal station errors or faults
Dealing with Connectivity Issues
Of those challenges, connectivity is the most pressing one, accounting for 55% of charging station failures. That’s probably the most frustrating issue because it’s largely out of the station’s control since connectivity is usually in the hands of the cellular service provider.
However, there are solutions to that problem – although in the short term, they might entail some financial loss. In the long term, though, these solutions will produce new streams of revenue from customers who see the charging stations’ dependability and decide to go electric.
The first is to provide free charging if the cell service drops, as does Electrify America. Follow that up with research about a more dependable cellular network if it happens often.
The second solution to this issue is to connect your stations with hardwired communications cables. Again, this is a short-term shortfall but a long-term investment. Hardwiring might be the best option if you install stations in more remote locations.
Handling Internal Errors and Faults
Keeping your equipment in good repair and your software updated and monitored can go a long way toward avoiding the kinds of glitches that cause even your best customers to go ballistic. Again, spending a little more money now to stave off these issues can reap great rewards later.
Lowering Consumer Charging Costs
Encouraging your customers to participate in peak shaving, vehicle-to-grid (V2G), and similar cost-saving programs that pay (or provide discounts to) customers for charging their cars during off-peak hours or feeding back some of their batteries’ energy back into the grid can help them reduce costs.
Give Your Customers Something to Do While They Charge
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While you need not create a restaurant-movie theater to entertain your customers, you can give them a comfortable seating area, a TV, and enough food and beverage choices to delight their palates while they wait. Magazines can help them relax, while well-stocked restrooms allow them to refresh themselves after hours on the road.
Network with Experts to Troubleshoot EV Charging Fails
Keeping up with the latest developments in the EV sector can be a full-time job. While you probably keep up with some of the news by reading blog posts, white papers, and articles, it also pays to rub shoulders with the EV industry’s finest minds.
At the EV Charging Summit & Expo, we feature some of the world’s foremost experts in every facet of the EV charging space. Hear what these presenters have to say – and then meet them in person to ask the kinds of questions that can help you form a more effective strategy for your company. Reserve your place today!
