Accurate real time charge point status vital to EV uptake

A report from IoT research analysts Beecham, sponsored by UK-based mobile virtual network operator Caburn Telecom, warns that in the race to deliver the EV charging network needed to support the rapid transition to electric vehicles, the importance of connectivity must not be overlooked.

As Caburn explains, IoT systems acquire data from devices, process it for use in applications, and generate real-time information that is communicated to third parties.

In EV charging, the public charge points are the devices. They process operational status, metering and user data and communicate the information so that the charge point operators can monitor their maintenance needs, users can be billed, and the utility and communications companies can be paid.

Uptime is critical, but the track record to date is poor. And that, says Caburn, is largely because the complexity of the connectivity part of any IoT solution is too often underestimated.

The report points to anecdotal negative media coverage and research data that indicates outages are a serious issue, with estimates suggesting that at any one time around a quarter of charge points are out of service. Too often, say Caburn, the charge point operators are unaware of the status of their charge points and unable to reset them remotely.

The key point, it says, is it is hugely frustrating for users – already subject to range anxiety – to find that available charging points are not working. And unless addressed this will become a major obstacle to the wide-spread adoption of EVs. That in turn could prove a significant blocker to the Government’s ambitious transport decarbonisation agenda.

A priority for charge point operators, believes Caburn, is to provide accurate real time information on their status. And operators that fail to do so risk reputational damage and loss of market share that will become increasingly severe over time.

The solution, says Caburn, is operators should not rely soley on their regular enterprise mobility partner. Instead they should be looking to partner with a mobile virtual network operator that offers non-steered access to multiple networks, and a management platform that allows the CPO to monitor the charge-points in real-time and to remotely correct faults. Multi-network roaming with automatic switching, it says, is key to maximising geographical coverage and connection resilience.