EV Charging Hiccups
EV charging hiccups are definitely out there and can lead to some frustrating and almost laughable results. If you ever wander away from your home charging universe in your EV, you have likely experienced them.
"Gas stations are a known quantity, and accessible just about anywhere there are roads. It’s simple to swipe a card or pay in cash, fill up, and leave. But as it stands, EV charging involves a series of convoluted steps with finicky apps that don’t work consistently."
If the weather is cold and the charger is a level 2, you can even lose a charge while charging as I discovered recently. Then there is the misinformation, chargers showing up on your google maps or charging apps only to be "Coming Soon."
"Imagine my surprise when I opened the Electrify America app to find the nearest charging station had not yet been opened for business. Although it’s listed in the app as a regular-degular station, clicking on the location reveals a “Coming Soon” notice. Why on Earth was this in the app?"
It turns out that this frustrated user was not a paying subscriber so they offer limited information if you do not pay them a monthly fee? What are you supposed to do? Subscribe to every EV charging application? It all sounds crazy but it is 100% true. The unfortunate truth is that we have a long way to go before we can use electric vehicles on on road trips or in locations outside of our home knowledge.
The good news is that innovation is coming and some companies already have great solutions. One such company I recently ran into is Xeal Energy.
“Unlike traditional central networked solutions and anyone else in the space, Xeal eliminates the single-point-of-failure networking issue that leads to charger downtime and instead offers the industry 100% reliability to make widespread EV adoption that much easier."
Since Xeal chargers do not rely on Wi-Fi, you are far more likely to have the service available to you when you actually need it. Since their application resides on your phone, your device manages the process rather than each station providing a faster and more stable experience.
Other added benefits for EV charger owners include energy optimization and a highly flexible and customizable payment solution.
If you have EV charger questions or about Xeal Energy, leave us a comment below or email us at news@ph1c.com
