⚡ Kempower lifts the curtain on charging success rate and uptime 🔎

Happy Monday. Welcome to Electric Avenue, we’re here to make sure you’re caught up on the best (and worst) of EV charging this week 💡

Here’s what we have for you today:

• ⚡Kempower lifts the curtain on charging success rate and uptime 🔎

• 3 Links 🔗

• Meme of the week 🤡

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Kempower lifts the curtain on charging success rate and uptime 🔎

You are in a hurry, a little tired from driving and it is pouring rain outside. 🛣️☔️

You hit the next reststop and drive up to the charger 🔌

You jump out of your car, swipe your RFID card to authenticate the session, and plug the cable into your vehicle … Nothing happens 🤬

Be honest, everyone who works in this industry has been there. And it is frustrating because even you, with your vast experience, have no idea what is not working at that moment.

Finnish charging station manufacturer Kempower has published a white paper giving a comprehensive overview of the success rate of its chargers in the field. Manufacturers are in a unique position to know what is really going on, as they see the communication between the charger and the electric vehicle, as well as the communication between the charger and the CPO's charge point management system (CPMS). However, they have a blind spot, which is the communication between the CPO's CPMS and the Mobility Service Provider (MSP) or credit card terminals for session authentication. And it turns out that this blind spot is an issue that explains a lot of the problems from their point of view. Let's look at the figures provided by Kempower.

Kempower has an extensive database with more than 13 million charging sessions from December 2018 to July 2024. Their equipment has been deployed by various CPOs, particularly in the Nordics, including Mer, Recharge and Allego. Kempower reports an uptime of more than 99%. However, Kempower goes further and provides two additional metrics when analysing their data. The two primary KPIs they look at are the technical success rate and the usability success rate.

The technical success rate monitors unsuccessful attempts due to technical problems that can be attributed to either the EV or the charging equipment. Kempower reports an average technical success rate of 94.3%, with the best CPOs using Kempower's charging solutions achieving a technical success rate of 97.2%. The two main issues are locking problems, where the plug locking mechanism fails, which can come from a number of sources including a faulty EV plug, a worn plug or improper connection by the user. The second main issue is communication between the EV and the charger, due to software bugs, which Kempower identifies as originating from the vehicle.

The usability success rate focuses on unsuccessful attempts caused by user-related issues. The average usability success rate is 76.3%, with the best operators using Kempower's charging solutions achieving 91.2%. By far the biggest problem is user authentication, where Kempower points to cumbersome charging applications with complicated multi-step application interfaces. The whole authentication process is somewhat unclear from the manufacturer's perspective, while CPOs typically have a more detailed viewpoint based on the data exchanged with their CPMS.

Our Three Key Takeaway:

1. Uptime does not guarantee successful charging session: Funding schemes such as NEVI (see our post AFIR vs. NEVI if you want to learn more) require an average annual uptime >97%. As Kempower's data shows, this does not guarantee that users will successfully charge their EVs. The EV industry needs to focus on the overall success of the user's charging sessions instead.

2. The average usability success rate of 76.3% is shockingly low and needs to be improved. I wonder if the authentication technology used (credit card payment system vs. MSP) makes a difference or if there are serious differences in the charge point backend systems. The best operators achieve a success rate of 91.2%, suggesting significant difference between CPOs.

3. Open source software to solve communication problems: Software-based communication along the value chain remains a key issue. The industry has developed standards for communication between chargers and EVs - IEC 61851, ISO 15118, and DIN 70121, chargers and charge point management systems with OCPP now an IEC standard: IEC 63584. However, issues remain and extensive testing is required to ensure interoperability. This provides a unique opportunity for open source software to enable code-based collaboration and synergy between industry players.

3 Links 🔗

• Tesla V4 Specs are Out 🔌: Tesla officially announced the V4 cabinet. Although V4 dispensers have been installed in the field, the power output has been limited. With the new V4 cabinets, the finished system will be able to deliver up to 500kW for cars and 1.2MW for Semis. It also supports 400V-1000V vehicle architectures, has a smaller footprint and supports power for up to 8 dispensers for dynamic power distribution.

• Aral Pulse (BP) expansion on Greenfield 🟩: Traditionally, gas stations have had a huge advantage in their charging infrastructure rollout, locations. Aral Pulse, the e-mobility brand of BP Germany, has opened its first dedicated electric vehicle (EV) charging station on a greenfield site in Mönchengladbach, Germany. The facility features 14 ultra-fast Alpitronic HYC 400 chargers, each capable of delivering up to 400kW, providing a total of 28 charging points. The hub is equipped with a solar roof, vacuum cleaners, toilets and a 24/7 unmanned REWE To Go smart store. Ad hoc charging is priced at €0.79/kWh. A week earlier, through its partnership with DCS (a subsidiary of BP), Aral launched a subscription package via ChargeNow offering charging at Aral Pulse stations at €0.39/kWh for €9.99 per month.

• Monta integrates Tesla Wallbox for US launch 🇺🇸 : Employees using a Tesla Wall Connector to charge their company electric vehicles (EVs) can now benefit from Monta's home charging reimbursement software. This is the first OCPP-based integration of Tesla's charger hardware into a third-party charge point management system. Danish company Monta has recently entered the US market, opening its first office in Miami.

Most-clicked link last week: Was the Youtube video: ICNC24 Masterclass: Rising Fraud in eMobility: 30 Ways to Commit Fraud and How to Get Rich (link)

Meme of the Week 🤡

🤣

Reader Review of the Week

Selected ⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️ Freakin’ awesome on ⚡ How virtual credit cards can kill Mobility Service Providers and wrote:

“⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️keep going guys”

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