Wrong Charger, Wrong Place, Wrong Time

The Electric Vehicle (EV) revolution is roaring, but in all markets, many Charge Point Operators (CPOs) risk being left behind due to poor planning. In this article, our own EV evangelist and solution expert, Junaid Muneer shares some ideas.

Remember those lonely payphones gathering dust on street corners?

That could well be the future of a charging network built on guesswork and wishful thinking. Let’s face it, dropping a fast, ultra-rapid Level 3 charger in a sleepy suburb or a single AC Level 2 at a desolate highway stop might seem like a good idea at first, but more likely it is simply a recipe for disaster. Solely relying on intuition can lead you down an expensive and chaotic path of no return.

Here’s the costly reality:

• Million-dollar mistakes: Imagine spending big bucks on DC fast chargers for ultra-rapid charging, when actually a slow and steady Level 2 would have sufficed. Like putting a fighter jet engine in a school bus, this would be not only inappropriate but incredibly expensive without any likelihood of recouping those costs.
• Ghost town stations: Investing in infrastructure which might make you the only provider for miles might sound great at first, but building a charging hub where tumbleweeds outnumber EVs just won’t pay the bills. ️
• Gridlock: Ignoring power limitations and overloading the system can be incredibly damaging, both to your pockets and reputation. Think of plugging your entire house into a single extension cord – sparks will fly (and not the good kind).

These aren’t hypothetical scenarios. Without naming names, we’ve seen news where CPOs in the past installing chargers and finding out the lack of power afterwards.

So what is the antidote to charger anarchy? 

Data-driven planning with Dodona’s AI at the helm (of course). A far cry from all the guesswork, think of it as a supercharged GPS for your EV charging infrastructure, both now and in the future.

How data saves the day:

• Knowledge is power: Our intelligent platform absorbs real-world data from a huge number of sources, from traffic patterns, demographics, and grid capacity, to land ownership and charging behavior, so that the answers are right at your fingertips
• Customized for your success: We work with you to understand your specific goals, from projected EV growth to your desired payback period.
• Predictive power with a purpose: Clear and quick insights so you can make informed decisions about charger type, placement, and infrastructure investment.

Having quick and easy access to accurate data is worth its weight in gold. As a CPO, this can act as a rocket ship for return on investment, allowing you to strategically identify successful charger locations for high utilization. This in turn can be utilized to encourage and nurture customer loyalty, as you are then able to tackle ´range anxiety` – an industry hurdle associated with EV drivers – scaling your business to meet current and future demand by providing convenient access to the right charger in the right location at the right time for the EV customer. 

The right charger, in the right place, at the right time.

The Dodona eMobility Platform (DeM) AI models, armed with relevant EV-specific data, assess hundreds of sites and provide insights into each one’s feasibility, viability, and timing. This empowers CPOs to answer three questions:

Can we deploy? Should we deploy? And where should we start? 

And the answers are powerful stuff. All you have to do is ask.

Learn more about how we can help.