ChargePoint Announces Plan to Improve EV Charger Uptime
On August 8, 2023, ChargePoint, an electric vehicle charging company, revealed its new strategy to achieve nearly 100 percent uptime for its EV chargers. The plan includes continuous monitoring of charging stations, utilizing machine learning for faster issue identification, and implementing predictive analytics for smoother operations.
ChargePoint currently operates over 243,000 active charging ports that are constantly connected to its Network Operations Center (NOC), enabling 24/7 monitoring. This allows the company to promptly notify station owners of any problems and dispatch maintenance teams to resolve issues.
The machine learning aspect involves processing large amounts of data and scanning social media mentions to quickly identify malfunctioning stations. By leveraging machine learning algorithms, ChargePoint aims to address complaints from EV users on social media more efficiently.
Although ChargePoint does not specify which social media platforms it will monitor, it may consider using the PlugShare app, a crowdsourced public EV charging station app, as a valuable data source. RideApart has reached out to ChargePoint for clarification on this matter.
Two surveys, the JD Power Electric Vehicle Experience Public Charging Study and the Plug In America EV Driver Survey, currently assess EV ownership satisfaction in 2023. The most recent JD Power survey is from 2022, while the latest Plug In America survey is from August 9, 2023. JD Power plans to release a new report on August 16, 2023.
According to the 2022 JD Power survey, participants reported two main issues with public charging networks in 2022: limited access in certain areas and station reliability. User satisfaction with public Level Two charging stations dropped to 633 out of 1000, compared to 643 in 2021. DC fast charging (DCFC) satisfaction remained unchanged at 674.
In terms of DCFC, Tesla Superchargers received the highest score of 739, surpassing the industry average for user satisfaction, according to JD Power.
The 2023 Plug In America survey interviewed current EV owners and potential buyers. It found that around 90 percent of current EV owners were generally satisfied with their vehicles but expressed dissatisfaction with the state of public charging networks in the US. Broken chargers were a major concern for 46 percent of users relying on public DCFC networks.
Currently, there is no single standard to measure public EV charging network uptime, including ChargePoint's approach of measuring individual charging port uptime. ChargePoint claims a 96 percent uptime for its public network in North America and Europe, and a higher rate of 98 percent for ChargePoint Assure customers.
The new Bipartisan Infrastructure Law under the Biden-Harris administration is another important factor for the US charging network. The law includes a $7.5 billion investment in enhancing EV charging infrastructure nationwide. However, companies must meet certain requirements to qualify for federal funding, such as manufacturing chargers in the US and achieving a minimum of 97 percent uptime.
ChargePoint currently offers information on its National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) Formula Program, which assists businesses in installing DC fast charging stations and qualifying for incentive programs.
