Many electric vehicle charging networks are demanding very high uptime. That is, they claim that the chargers that are part of their network are not down for maintenance very often or when they are down it is not for long. These cargo nets claim to have uptime of 98 to 99%. At first glance, it seems like a percentage that you would expect from a gas station. Most of us have been to a gas station where the pumps were out of order, but we would probably guess a similar uptime for fossil fuel stations if asked. The question for people considering purchasing an electric vehicle is, "Are those uptime real?"
The answer is definitely "no".
Right now, it is not uncommon to come to a charging station where there are two chargers and one is not working. You might arrive and see a black screen or a screen that resembles a malfunctioning big box television from the old days. Of course, this is annoying. During the pandemic, you may have been able to just pick the charger that works, but now that things are opening up, most of the time, you will have to wait to use a fast charger.
Of course, you can know in the app before you arrive which chargers are available, but when was the last time you used an app to refuel your internal combustion engine car? If you use the same EV chargers in your city every week, don't check the app before charging. Just drive to the charging station and wait for a charger to be available.
If charging networks say EV drivers just need to get used to checking the app before driving to their local fast-charging station, then those charging networks are asking for no use and are perpetuating slow EV adoption.
Cargo networks should mimic the experience of a gas station. Tesla is the only charging network that seems to understand how to create a positive charging experience. Below is a previous post on why Tesla's charging network is the only one designed for mass adoption of electric vehicles.
Electric vehicle charging networks are playing a little game by setting up 2-4 chargers at a time with little focus on user experience. Unless these charging networks really solve your user experience problems, they will prevent and delay the adoption of electric vehicles.
Electric vehicle charging networks must focus heavily on creating experiences similar to those of the service stations associated with their charging stations. They require 8 to 16 chargers per location, 30 minute charge times, and 99.9999999% uptime. Anything less than that only perpetuates that EVs aren't ready for prime time.
