Heat is On - Reliability of DCFC stations

I dont want to beat a dead horse...but my LinkedIn post this week covering the reliability of EV DCFC networks must have hit a nerve (over 18,000 impressions and 124 likes - which is a lot for a post that isn't some clickbait that's not work related that you see too much of on this site), so I'm going to spend a bit more time on it. Here's what I originally wrote in regards to the paper titled, "Reliability of Open Public Electric Vehicle Direct Current Fast Chargers":

"The findings of this study suggest that the currently installed DCFC stations do not meet the 97 to 99% minimum uptime required by public funding agencies. The findings also appear to contradict the 95 to 98% national uptime levels reported by EVSPs (CARB, 2022a, p11). EVSPs do not report the details of how they define and calculate uptime. The EV charging infrastructure would greatly benefit from more data transparency and transparency on methodologies used by each EVSP in calculating uptime."

"In the Greater Bay Area, 3 EVSPs,?ChargePoint,?Electrify America, and?EVgo?accounted for 97.3% of the 657 open public DCFC EVSEs evaluated. There were important functional and design differences between the stations installed by these EVSPs. ChargePoint had the highest percent of non-functional CCS EVSEs at 36.4% followed by EVgo (25.5%) and Electrify America (19.0%). The most critical design flaw was that 7.1% of the Electrify America cables were too short to reach the Chevy Bolt charger inlet, a problem that may be experienced by other EVs with the power inlet on the side of the vehicle. The cable length problem could be addressed with an industry standard on minimal cord length based on the kiosk location relative to the parking space"

and

"Of the 657 open public?#DCFC?#CCS?#EVSEs?evaluated in this study, 72.5% were functional at the time of testing while 27.5% were either not functional or the cable was too short to reach the?#EV?inlet. The most common cause of a nonfunctional EVSE was an electrical systems failure which included an unresponsive or unavailable screen, a payment system failure, a charge initiation failure, a connection failure, or a broken connector"

Here are some of my takeaways:

• Defining reliability is harder than it sounds. As the paper says: "There are different methods of measuring reliability of an electrical system, but essentially, it is the degree to which the performance of the system results in electricity being delivered to the customer in the amount desired (ORNL, 2004). The reliability of an EVSE, that is, the functional state, can be considered from the perspective of the EVSP or the EV driver. The EVSP may detect the state of an EVSE through its communication network, or as calls to a service number by EV drivers, as a measure of reliability. From the EV driver perspective, a reliable EVSE is one that charges the EV, for the expected duration, after using an appropriate payment method, at the expected rate (i.e., kW)......However, the use of uptime as the reliability metric is controversial since there is no standard definition nor is there a standard calculation methodology. Given the complexity of the EVSE ecosystem and technology stack, from hardware to software, ensuring a high uptime and assigning “uptime ownership” of each EVSE may be difficult and may require standardization across different jurisdictions."
• There NEEDS to be a standard that measures reliability of EV DCFC stations that all operators and government agencies adhere to. (I can hear the collective groaning from the folks at Electrify America and EVgo and others as I type this). The standard should define and differentiate between a connectors that simply do not work vs. a connector/station that is a hassle to work (ie works but with too much effort invovled, plugging/unplugging, app not working but credit card works, etc).
• There NEEDS to be standardization around terms like charging station, plug, port, connector, etc. See below:

• And unfortunately, it seems there need to be penalties for stations that are funded with public money that do not meet reliability standards (once defined). There may *technically* be language right now that funding agencies have around reliability, but let's be honest, they have no teeth as things stand today.
• Speaking of reliability, Robert Powell made this comment on my original post that I've never even thought about: "The other problem (especially in parking lot's) is they are in direct sunlight and the internal temperature's prevent the stations from operating correctly. I was talking to one of the?Electrify America?Technician's at a station in Houston. He has replaced the power cords at least 5 times in the last year cause the heat cures and cracks the power cable and the temp sensors bake to death! They should put them under a porte-cochère or similar to help prevent the screens from dying?and the cables and handles from destroying themselves prematurely." To which I replied: I heard through the grapevine that?Electrify America?is the end customer on this contract:?https://cleantechnica.com/2022/01/07/isun-wins-contract-for-1780-solar-canopies-at-ev-charging-stations/
• Many people have commented about how auto manufacturers are installing charging points in locations that are difficult to access with short charging station cords. I think the simplest solution to this is is the need to back in a spot, but if the port is on the wrong side it's sometimes still too short. The charging cords are often short due to limit line losses due to the amount of power flowing through them and to limit the need for cooling (see above post re heat) but regardless: there needs to be more thought put into the actual charging experience between charging manufacturers and auto manufacturers.
• All of this highlights how smart and well executed Tesla's Superchargers are. Sure, they still have problems but I bet if there were a side by side comparison of Superchargers vs. others it would be embarrassing for others.
• I have a hunch that many charging network providers don't really care all that much about reliability. I mean, sure, they do...but what they really care about is new stations in the ground. They can obfuscate reliability while placating investors with new station starts.

This issue is extremely important to improve EV adoption. On our very first family EV road trip we had the typical EV horror story where the DCFC station didn't work and we had to back track and we got delayed several hours. We were meeting two other couples at a beach house and they got a fun story when we finally arrived. I'm guessing they wont be buying an EV anytime soon because that's their first memory of EV ownership.

Reliability matters.