How EVCS is Repairing Reliability Concerns

One of the biggest concerns among EV drivers today is the reliability of public chargers. One recent survey from the Department of Bioengineering at UC Berkeley claims as many as 23% of public chargers in the Bay Area alone are, as Wired sums up, “nonfunctioning at any given time, stymied by broken screens, shoddy credit card or payment systems, network connection failures, or damaged plugs.” And that’s in a locale prioritizing the conversion to electric. Testimony from motorists seems to corroborate these findings. A CEC survey of 1,290 EV drivers found that fully 60% had experienced damaged or inoperable chargers, while almost half needed assistance from customer service. We find this wholly unacceptable and have taken measures to ensure that chargers in the EVCS network rise to the standard of operability our customers expect. Here are a few ways we’re doing that:

Renovating Existing Infrastructure

In the summer of 2020, we purchased the West Coast Electric Highway, a contiguous network of 56 charging stations in Oregon and Washington. Unfortunately, the chargers were outdated and several had fallen into disrepair. By October of 2021, the first phase in our estimated two-year renovation project had begun, complete with the incorporation of new proprietary networking software, updated payment portals, CCS1 connectors and replacement of old Level 2 and Level 3 chargers.

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Utilizing State-of-the-Art Hardware

Our Tritium RT50 chargers are acknowledged by industry experts as among the highest quality available. Their efficiency rating is greater than 90%, with 6000 VAC surge protection, and they maintain peak performance in both extreme heat and subzero temperatures. They’re durable, lightweight and equipped with a patented liquid-cooling technology that allays the effects of humidity, dust and corrosion.

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Remote Operational Testing

We maintain a powerful centralized platform that is connected to every charger in our network. This allows us to routinely run diagnostics checks that ensure optimum operability across every area, from electrical flow to RFID connectivity to the status of charging ports and adapters. If we find an issue, we remotely “reboot” the charger as a first step in our maintenance and repair protocols.

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Expert Technicians

If a reboot fails to solve the issue, we send a specially trained technician to service the equipment. However, some issues might fail to appear on one of our remote tests, which is why we routinely send field techs out to inspect every one of our installations across the West Coast. Working to preemptively address issues means less of a chance our customers get burdened with the hassle of faulty equipment.

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Responsive Customer Service

Despite all our mitigating efforts, we understand problems will still arise. That’s why we maintain a round-the-clock customer support team every day of the year to address charger issues. We can be reached by phone, email or website form, and we respond promptly to issues on social media. Customers who call in will be connected to a live person who is knowledgeable, empathetic and driven to achieve maximum satisfaction.

According to a recent article in Greenbiz, “To accelerate the transition to 100 percent zero-emission vehicle sales for new passenger vehicles in the U.S., the emphasis on charging infrastructure must equally focus on deploying more stations and ensuring a reliable driver experience. Otherwise, we risk slowing down EV adoption…” We completely agree. We remain committed to keeping our chargers in top working order and providing customers a simple, reliable and seamless charging experience.

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Analysis of Biden’s Infrastructure Plan

President Biden finally held his first official press conference last Thursday, March 25th, wherein he addressed his $2.2 trillion infrastructure bill, albeit from a high level that was light on details. What we do know is that the legislation will include $174 billion dedicated specifically to incentivizing EV manufacturing, the building of charging networks, tax credits for EV purchasers, and the development of alternative fuel technologies. The goal, Biden says, is to have a minimum of 500,000 EV charging stations installed across the country by 2030.

6 Reasons Why America Needs EVCS

EVCS has come a long way over a short time. In less than three years, we’ve taken a vision by company co-founders Gustavo Occhiuzzo and Ian Vishnevsky – one that incentivizes responsible mobility through increased access to charging infrastructure – and built upon it. We’ve partnered with state and local DOTs, developed advanced management software, pioneered affordable subscription charging plans, streamlined project installation processes, and reduced financial downsides while maximizing upsides for site owners, just to name a few.

What Volvo’s Announcement Means to Us

Recently, Volvo made a stunning announcement: it has committed to selling only battery-powered EVs by 2030. Not just in Europe, mind you. Everywhere. The news comes on the heels of recent automaker reports showing a surge in worldwide EV sales and the official unveiling of Volvo’s second BEV this past Tuesday – the C40 Recharge crossover coupe. (The XC40 introduced in 2018 was the first.) See more details in the article here: https://www.newsmax.com/Finance/streettalk/volvo-electric-vehicles-ev-online/2021/03/02/id/1012158/

GREEN Act Delivers for EV Enthusiasts

The Biden Administration and fellow Democrats in Congress continue to lead the green energy charge, which is creating resounding benefits for the EV industry as a whole. The latest is the aptly named Growing Renewable Energy and Efficiency Now, or GREEN, Act (you gotta love those clever acronyms!) sponsored by Representative Mike Thompson (D-CA-5). Earlier this month, the House Ways and Means Committee introduced the bill as a way to advance an agenda centered on achieving greater levels of sustainability, and we were pleased to see several provisions included that would further encourage EV adoption.

Installation of the Month (March 2021): The Elysian

EVCS continues to put charging stations in the ground at a record-setting pace, further proving that the notion of responsible mobility is gaining momentum with SoCal motorists. We’re incredibly proud of the work we’ve been able to do over the past couple years, which has simultaneously benefitted countless individuals (with cheaper modes of transport), businesses (with new revenue models), and the environment (with cleaner air quality). Moreover, many of our newer sites are residential buildings, making EV ownership more of a practical reality for tens of thousands of Californians who have otherwise been apprehensive about cutting the cord with ICE vehicles.