Billing itself as the world’s “largest and most open” charging network for electric vehicles, ChargePoint is announcing a series of new initiatives to improve the reliability of its robust network of 245,000 chargers. “We expect these multi-billion dollar investments to deliver near 100 percent network reliability once fully implemented,” the company writes in a press release.
The announcement comes as American electric vehicle drivers continue to have trouble finding reliable places to charge their cars when they’re out and about. A study last year found that one in five respondents were unable to charge their vehicle after arriving at a station, with most blaming malfunctioning or out-of-service chargers.
“Multi-million dollar investments to deliver near 100 percent network reliability”
To achieve its reliability goal, ChargePoint is setting up a new Network Operations Center that will draw on “several big data sources” in an attempt to respond quickly to issues with its chargers and even catch problems before they arise using analytics. predictive. It is also making changes to its app to offer more visibility into the status and readiness of charging stations, and to allow users to provide feedback on issues like vandalism.
Finally, ChargePoint is also introducing a new decommissioning process to incentivize owners who are no longer interested in hosting their public chargers to turn them in for reuse by ChargePoint. The hope is that this will reduce confusion for drivers who may see a charging station in the real world that is no longer available for use or is no longer listed in the app.
Earlier this year, rival charging network EVgo announced a program of its own to improve the reliability of its network. Its ReNew program aims to replace, upgrade or retire hundreds of the company’s chargers over the course of 2023.
