Happy Chargers - A CEO’s Perspective

Our CEO, Dr. Stefan Furlan, talks about the role of Charge Point Planning software in creating happy chargers, ensuring that CPOs are building effective and successful charging networks which will make for high utilization and profitability, as well as some very happy EV drivers.

For Charge Point Operators (CPOs), investing in EV charging infrastructure isn’t just about deploying chargers - it’s about choosing the right locations to maximize sustainable levels of usage and profitability. We call this creating happy chargers - a network of highly-utilized and well-maintained charge points which in turn make for a happy charging experience for the all-important end-user.

But the race to build efficient, profitable charging networks is heating up, and selecting optimal sites for both the CPO and the consumer in a competitive and rapidly evolving market requires more than intuition or basic analysis. It demands sophisticated tools that combine vast amounts of data with intelligent planning. 

This is where Charge Point Planning (CPP) solutions come into the equation. At Dodona Analytics, we have been offering customers such a solution for a number of years, supporting them in building and scaling profitable EV charging networks, and now find ourselves to be a leading option for many US and UK CPOs.

As Founder and CEO, I find myself uniquely placed to offer my thoughts on what makes for considered and successful charge point planning. Any business looking to build an EV charging network needs to seriously consider how it will approach the site assessment and planning stages, from identifying feasible and viable charging sites, through acquisition to successful installation and beyond.

For us, it is 100% about the combination of three core aspects:

• Data & Insights

• Predictive modelling

• Operational efficiency

But there are choices, right? A company starting out may decide to source their insight from freely available tools such as Google Maps and basic on-request data sources, storing them across a variety of systems and or spreadsheets as needed. And when it comes to finally making a decision on which locations should be invested into, this could be done via a manual review of individual data points per geographic area or site. We have seen it done, and we will see it done again we have no doubt.

There is a much, much better way. Yes, the above scenario incorporates some data points but can lack key insight which typically sit behind paywalls. Operationally it is both cumbersome and time consuming to source, collate, and analyze, and is ultimately inconsistent as an objective and accurate evaluation approach. 

So, what’s the ideal set up and why? 

Data and Insight:
There’s data, and then there’s data. It should be accurate, up-to-date, and EV-relevant. It should be carefully sourced and curated. And, all-importantly, it should be aggregated - combined data housed in a single, easy-to-use platform or solution.

If you’re using a CPP solution worth its salt, this aggregation of EV data points will also provide access to a unique viewpoint - derived data. This is specific and unique to the cocktail of data points you have chosen for your business needs, and delivers insight at a holistic level thanks to the aggregation of these relevant data sources. We call it “smart data”, and it is a major advantage of the CPP solution we offer our customers.

Operational efficiency:
Forget the spreadsheets, forget the multitude of open browser tabs, forget the manual data curation and scoring systems. Operational efficiency is key to both finding the right site locations, and ensuring confidence in deciding on them. 

So what does this look like? CPP software can provide you with a central space not only for the housing, assessment and presentation of your data points, it should also allow for the collaboration of your team(s) across multiple projects, as well as granting access to clients, partners, and other stakeholders. Establishing a visible and replicable workflow from finding sites through to acquisition and delivery will make sure that you can scale with confidence and speed. And that is not to be underestimated in this rapidly developing market. A good extra here is ensuring that data is integrated to other business systems, such as your CRM or CPMS.

Predictive Modelling
This is about moving from a one-size fits all approach to a tailored site assessment model. We see the generic assessment model approach posing problems for would-be clients, with utilization forecasting offering only a single-dimension for site-assessment.

Your data is only data until it is interpreted in an objective and intelligent manner, according to your business needs. When building an EV charging network, the ability to understand the actual feasibility and profitability of various sites, and at scale, is about the only way to be confident of future success. 

Every business is different, with varying needs, goals, and strategies. The way to go here is to look to ensure a more custom approach of predictive modeling, specific to your business needs with bespoke transparent site scoring. This kind of integrated CPP platform is essentially tailored to supercharge your process from site-discovery to delivery.

So there you have it, my insight and experience on what makes for efficient and successful charge point planning, leading to happy, well-utilized charge points, as well as satisfied and well-supported customers.

You may also be interested in what the analysts have to say on the CPP market.

We were delighted to host Jeff Clark on our recent webinar - Exploring the Charge Point Market. Jeff is Principal Analyst at Cleanteach Insiders and took the time to take us through their recent research into the market, discussing the must-have capabilities of any CPP platform worth its salt, key factors to consider during site-assessment, and much more.

You can still watch the on-demand recording here: