The Road Ahead for EV Charging: Opportunities & Challenges for Charging Point Operators

As the EV charging industry continues to mature there are certain opportunities and challenges that persist such as public charging continuing to lag EV adoption and problems with charger anxiety as well as charger reliability and a poor customer experience. However, there are some opportunities and challenges that CPOs really should address in the next 6 months that get overlooked. We are here to serve as a reminder and guide you through navigating them. If you happen to be in the USA this is a great opportunity to learn from all our learnings in Europe - the things we have gotten right … and wrong?

The Opportunities that CPOs should be taking advantage of:

Building on existing infrastructure - A significant opportunity lies in recognising that we are not starting from scratch. Just over 15% of the EV charging infrastructure needed by 2030 is already in the ground (in the UK). This foundation allows for accelerated development, as the scale and speed of infrastructure expansion are increasing e.g. use existing utilitisation data to learn what has worked and what has not.

Undetermined winners - The EV charging industry remains in its early stages, characterized by a "land grab" phase where market leaders have yet to be fully identified. This means that all players in the field still have an opportunity to establish themselves as one of the ‘winners’ in this rapidly evolving ecosystem.During early stage of the market evolution, it is critical to ensure the appropriate (fast or slow) chargers are strategically placed in the right locations, aligned with the optimal Dwell Time; if you have an interest in this topic you may find this article of interest.

Leveraging data - Data to provide insight (evidence) and derived knowledge will help the winners; readily available and harnessing it is a valuable opportunity. By systematically utilizing internal data and combining it with external sources, CPOs can make more informed and strategic decisions, optimizing their charging networks and enhancing customer experiences. This can also be a challenge as we have over 100 data sources and they need to be normalised and maintained, let us know if you need help with this.?

And the Challenges to overcome … and turn into Opportunities:

Quality over quantity - While expanding the charging network is vital, it's equally essential to prioritise quality over quantity. Success isn't just about the sheer number of charging stations, it's about strategically placing the right chargers in the right locations. This concept is about ensuring that charging infrastructure is where it's most needed and convenient for EV users and you can read more about the art of site selection here.

The right approach - The winning CPOs will adopt an evidence-based approach that is both scalable and accurate. It’s essential to consider whether your approach makes the end customer see you as being the right partner to win the business. Our customers that are using Dodona eMobility are typically growing twice as fast as the rest for the market; we provide a qualitative approach that scales.?

Expanding into the unknown - As charging networks expand, they may expand into regions where CPOs lack intimate geographic knowledge. In such cases, reliable and organised data is crucial to support decision-making processes and mitigate potential risks associated with expansion into unfamiliar territories. Ensuring that data-driven decision-making is at the core of network expansion efforts is vital.

The fact is that with a data led approach these challenges DO become opportunities. If you would like to find out more about Dodona could help you please don’t be shy and reach out to me.?

Alternatively if you would like to catch up in person I will be at the CoMotion in LA November 14-16 and at the London EV Show November 28-30.??

About Dodona Analytics

Dodona Analytics are Europe's leading EV network-planning platform for charging infrastructure and work with some of the most ambitious and successful Charge Point Operators to help deploy many tens of thousands of chargers every year. As Data Scientists that are experts in Future Mobility we are changing the way we move people, goods and services and we are passionate about building a better future! We have recently launched the Dodona eMobility Platform for the USA, won our first American customer and we want to help drive the mobility rEVolution across the world.?