ChargePoint, an electric vehicle charging company, has announced its new plan to improve the uptime of its EV chargers across its network. This plan includes proactive station monitoring, machine learning for faster identification of station issues, and predictive analytics for seamless operation.
What Does That Mean?
ChargePoint currently has over 243,000 active charging ports in its network. These charging stations are monitored 24/7 through its Network Operations Center (NOC). The company can quickly notify station owners and send maintenance teams to resolve any issues. Additionally, machine learning algorithms will process big data feeds and monitor social media to identify stations with problems.
ChargePoint hasn’t specified which social media platforms it will monitor. However, it could potentially use the PlugShare app, a crowdsourced public EV charging station app, to gather complaints and data. The company has been asked for clarification on this matter.
Why It Matters
Surveys conducted in 2022 and 2023 have highlighted issues with public EV charging networks. Participants reported problems with station access, station reliability, and user satisfaction. In the 2022 JD Power survey, user satisfaction with public Level Two charging stations dropped from 643 to 633 on a 1,000-point scale. However, Tesla Superchargers received the highest satisfaction score.
The 2023 Plug In America survey revealed that while around 90% of current EV owners are generally satisfied with their EVs, they are dissatisfied with the state of public charging networks. Broken chargers were categorized as a major concern or a deal-breaker for 46% of users who rely on public DC fast charging networks.
The Sticky Issue of Public EV Charging Network Uptime
Currently, there is no single standard to measure public EV charging network uptime. ChargePoint measures station uptime individually for each charging port, considering driver expectations. By this metric, ChargePoint’s public network in North America and Europe delivers 96% uptime. ChargePoint Assure customers enjoy an even higher rate of uptime at 98%.
The new Bipartisan Infrastructure Law in the US covers various EV charging topics and requires federally funded charging networks to meet a minimum of 97% uptime. ChargePoint’s internal records currently show its network at 96% uptime. The law also mandates that qualified EV chargers must be built in the US and use domestically manufactured components.