Enhancing Electric Vehicle Charger Dependability in the Industry
Electric vehicles (EVs) are rapidly gaining popularity, but their charging infrastructure faces several challenges that can impact the reliability of charging stations. These issues can be categorised into technical, operational, and infrastructure-related problems.
### Technical Issues
Connectivity problems, such as network failures or software glitches, are common culprits for charging session failures. Internal faults within the chargers, like electrical component failures, can also halt operations. Damaged or worn-out charging cables and connectors can lead to reduced efficiency and complete failures.
### Operational Challenges
Unmanaged peak electrical loads can cause breakers to trip, resulting in downtime. Chargers often lack integration with monitoring systems, making it difficult for operators to promptly identify and address issues.
### Infrastructure and Support Challenges
Unlike traditional fueling infrastructure, EV chargers lack a mature and comprehensive support network, making repairs and maintenance more complex. Operators often face energy scaling challenges, with inadequate capacity being a significant concern.
## Strategies for Improving Reliability
### Best Practices for Maintenance
Regular visual inspections, proactive maintenance, and enhanced monitoring can help identify and fix issues before they escalate. Integrating chargers with IT systems allows operators to monitor performance and receive alerts for faults.
### Operational Improvements
Strategies to manage peak usage periods, such as distributed charging schedules or upgraded electrical infrastructure, can help prevent downtime. Investing in a comprehensive service network can streamline repair and maintenance processes.
By addressing these technical, operational, and infrastructure issues and implementing proactive maintenance strategies, charger operators can improve uptime rates and enhance overall reliability.
It's important to note that uptime rates can be misleading, as they often only measure whether a charger is powered on, ignoring issues like faulty payment terminals, damaged connectors, or software problems. The latest chargers can self-diagnose faults in real time, resolving up to 80% of them automatically or via a remote reset.
Downtime for EV chargers can be exacerbated by lack of visibility, lack of accountability, lack of power, and lack of support. The fuel retail sector, with its expertise and facilities, is well-positioned to offer the convenient, comfortable, and reliable charging experience that EV drivers expect.
Policymakers have introduced strict 97%-plus availability targets for chargers, and this trend is likely to continue. However, DC fast chargers have been found to have the lowest uptime, with almost half recording at least one weeklong outage, and one in 10 being out of action for at least six weeks.
Finally, EVs usually have less range in reserve compared to traditional vehicles, which can be a concern when navigating to the next charger. Ensuring a reliable and widespread charging network is crucial to alleviate this concern and to support the growing adoption of electric vehicles.
- The latest electric vehicles (EVs) can self-diagnose faults in real time, resolving up to 80% of them automatically or via a remote reset.
- The fuel retail sector, with its expertise and facilities, is well-positioned to offer the convenient, comfortable, and reliable charging experience that EV drivers expect.
- Addressing technical, operational, and infrastructure issues and implementing proactive maintenance strategies can help charger operators improve uptime rates and enhance overall reliability.
- Ensuring a reliable and widespread charging network is crucial to alleviate the concern of EVs having less range in reserve compared to traditional vehicles, supporting the growing adoption of electric vehicles (EVs).
