Everywhere we look, there are studies saying that we need more EV Charging stations. Of course, this is true, but there is a definite misconception hidden within this belief. We just finished an edge to edge tour of BC along the Trans Canada highway in an electric vehicle. Part of our objective was to interview EV drivers about their experiences. We charged or attempted to charge at thirteen locations. For the first 5 days, we never saw another car at a charging station. It wasn’t until our last morning in BC that we finally connected with another EV driver and got their take. This left us behind on our interview quota and puzzling over the focus on “adding more” without “fixing what we have”.
The problem lies in the time it takes to charge and the impact on your day when you have to wait. Many of the sites have only one or two charging stations and half of the ports dedicated to CHAdeMO connectors that can only charge a small subset of cars on the road (and will eventually be phased out). Depending on the charger and car technology, a charge can take 20-60 minutes, meaning that waiting even for a single car is problematic. So, yes, we need more redundancy on the highway network. Still, for us, the larger problem was quality not quantity.
We charged only at fast chargers and there was never a moment when we thought “OMG we’re not going to make it”. Even in the more remote areas when there were no retail or gas stations to be seen, there were still EV Chargers. We charged at empty parking lots, restaurants, a bowling alley and lots of gas stations. Now, that doesn’t mean there weren’t problems and that the experience was infallible (See "5 Essentials Elements for Bare Minimum EV Charging Experiences"), but it does mean that the way we’re seeing the problem is not entirely pragmatic.
We have a standards issue with EV Chargers. Chargers should always be working. They should always be manageable. In order to count on something, it has to be monitored and kept online or clearly communicated that it is offline so drivers can plan accordingly. Of the thirteen locations we checked out, two of them had no working chargers, forcing us to move on after multiple attempts at charging. Of the eleven that had working chargers, we attempted to charge 20 times to get those eleven charges, costing us valuable time and energy and not a small amount of frustration. There needs to be a predictable charging time along with the redundancy. Early adopters like Jenn and I might plan ahead and manage our own redundancy and make it work, but the masses will not. If we’re to achieve large-scale adoption, something needs to be done about the quality.
There’s no “one app” to manage the uptime of EV Chargers. Over the past few days, we’ve used PlugShare and Google Maps and ABRP to try to plan and manage accordingly. None are yet able to provide a reliable charger status. As such, there doesn’t seem to even be a way to work around the problem for eager drivers. Standards like Open Charge Point Interface (OCPI) and Open Charge Point Protocol (OCPP) that are intended to allow the level of interconnectivity to support charger management and tracking at large are still evolving and there is almost no policing to ensure the standards are implemented as intended, leaving networks able to claim compliance with the standard without true interoperability.
The BC government has invested millions in their EV Charging infrastructure to date and the federal government has invested millions more. We like that governments are moving fast and taking strides. We all want to build EV Charging infrastructure quickly in order to support government mandates and our own sense of duty to the planet. We applaud BC and other Canadian and worldwide governments for their substantial efforts thus far. However, we also implore them to tackle not only EV Charger quantity but also quality. We recommend that further government investment REQUIRE (1) real-time monitoring, (2) deep interoperability testing (between the hardware, network and management software) by an independent third party, (3) payment vetting, and (4) specific requirements in terms of amenities and the times they are available. No standards, no money.
These are just some of the problems that First Harmonic Group is helping to tackle. For more information on how to partner with us, check out our service or drop us a line info@firstharmonicgroup.com.
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