Photo: Electrify America
Those with electric vehicles (EVs) are likely to have faced charging stations without working stalls a time or two, and now several groups are speaking out about one charging network’s failure to provide working hardware and necessary information about its charging stalls to drivers.
EV owners are calling for public charging network company Electrify America to report its fast-charger uptimes at the charger level, in response to the company saying it would only report at the site level (via @PluginSites and @TheKilowatts).
Onlookers claim that reporting charger uptime at the site level omits crucial information about working and non-working stalls, for which many have criticized the Volkswagen subsidiary network in the past.
This is MADNESS – Imagine pulling up to a busy gas station with only one working pump.
If @ElectrifyAm can’t guarantee near-perfect charger-level uptime then we need a new CCS fast-charging leader! https://t.co/7gtLtEVQ4K— The Kilowatts 🚗⚡️ (@klwtts) December 16, 2022
Instead, many are calling for the company to report at a charger level to avoid drivers pulling up to charging stations where there aren’t any working chargers available — something that wouldn’t necessarily be able to be seen from site-level reporting.
Tesla owners are able to get charger connector updates per Supercharging site, along with busy time estimates right within their vehicles. To get charging connector updates is critical, especially for those on road trips that need a charge.
As EVs continue to increase in popularity, many believe that a working charging infrastructure remains central to quelling consumer range anxieties.
Electrify America also noted that “charger reliability is critical to the success” of its NEVI program, and it says it plans to offer 24/7 network monitoring, technical and diagnostic support, vehicle interoperability testing and more.