Despite the impending Tesla NACS plug revolution, CCS and even CHAdeMo plugs will be with us for years, says ChargePoint’s new CEO.
March 6, 2024 in 12:00 PM ET
It may be difficult to remember this experience now, and many people now have never experienced it in its entirety. But there was a time not too long ago when new smartphones, tablets, gaming devices, and computers weren’t always guaranteed to work with the WiFi networks they were trying to connect to.
Wireless Internet may be ubiquitous today, but it has been an uphill battle to achieve near-perfect compatibility with a variety of devices. That’s one of Rick Wilmer’s fondest memories from his years in the technology and broadband fields, where he now serves as CEO of electric vehicle charging giant ChargePoint as he grapples with the challenge of EV interoperability. And I recognize the similarities. anytime.
fully charge
Charging is a tough job
Despite record EV sales growth, public charging infrastructure has not sprung up as quickly as automakers hoped. Expanding charging access is critical to electrification, even though the chicken-and-egg problem surrounding EVs themselves is a capital-intensive and difficult business.
“In our interoperability lab, every laptop, every phone, every tablet, every device that anyone can buy is in the lab and connects to a WiFi network and makes sure it works. I remember checking,” he told InsideEVs in a recent interview. “This one is very similar to that one.”
For Wilmer, who took over the role of chief executive officer at ChargePoint in November after previously serving as its chief operating officer, the goal is to make EV charging as ubiquitous and “natural” as Wi-Fi is today. is the top priority. It has recently become a challenge on many fronts.
“Overall charger utilization is actually going up. It’s increasing much faster than the number of installed chargers.”
But that’s not the only challenge ChargePoint faces. Like nearly all EV charging companies, the road to profitability hasn’t been easy. ChargePoint lost $94.7 million in its final quarter of 2023, with revenue down 24% year over year. The company’s stock price has been on a downward trend in recent years, and not only did Mr. Wilmer replace longtime former CEO Pasquale Romano, but CFO Rex Jackson He retired.
There are also some advantages. Its revenue is up 8% from his 2022, and the network is growing. The launch of the Mercedes-Benz High Power Charging Network and Volvo’s Starbucks Network using ChargePoint’s hardware is a big feather in the cap. But overall, high capital costs, high interest rates, and an uncertain economic outlook — which prevents many business owners from investing in charging — are all proving to be major headaches.
Still, Wilmer thinks things are getting better. “Overall charger utilization is really going up,” he said. “It’s growing much faster than the number of installed chargers. This means that (companies and government facilities that are deploying charging) are actually serving the EV drivers who come there. It shows you to start.” In fact, without chargers, EV drivers won’t go there. ”
A commitment to charger compatibility is key to ensuring drivers don’t get enraged upon arrival.
As an example, Wilmer said North America is currently in a strange space between phasing out traditional CHAdeMO charging stations that service cars like the Nissan Leaf. It coexists with a large number of vehicles that use Combined Charging System (CCS) plugs. And we’re preparing for a future centered around Tesla’s North American Charging Standard (NACS) plug. Almost every automaker has moved to that standard, first from adapters and then from the factory. This is another set of challenges for ChargePoint, as until recently it had mainly dabbled in his first two plugs.
Additionally, has anyone ever gone to a fast charging station only to find that they only use the “wrong” plug? That’s what Wilmar is trying to fix.
“A key, underlying philosophy that we employ is that we do not dedicate parking spaces to specific connector types,” he said. He added that “it will take years” for CCS, and even CHAdeMO, to “exit the market.”
This is why future units will come with two plugs. One for CCS and one for NACS. “When you get into your car, ideally if you are using our mobile app, we can tell you what kind of vehicle you have and automatically release the correct connector type for your car. .”
Hardware is only part of the problem. The other thing is software. In other words, there are a ton of EVs out there, all running different battery management systems, internal software, electrical architectures, and even software versions. And now we have to add other types of vehicles, such as heavy electric trucks and locomotives.
So our approach is to test everything in our advanced testing lab at ChargePoint’s headquarters in Campbell, California. And Wilmer says this is a “brute force” approach, no different from the WiFi era. He recalled an instance where a vehicle stalled during a charging test and he was the only ChargePoint engineer to notice that an over-the-air update from the automaker had changed something and affected performance. .
“You have to turn the car on and test it,” Wilmer said. “We’ve made that investment and we wouldn’t have it any other way.”
This also applies to allowing the property owner who technically owns the station to maintain the station if something goes wrong. For years, forgotten and broken ChargePoint chargers have been an unfortunate feature of electric vehicles. Now, remote monitoring makes it easy to detect downtime, and “99%” of customers are interested in a quick solution, Wilmer said.
It also means installing chargers everywhere, including standard-speed Level 2 chargers, as well as DC fast chargers, he said. “I see this as a new trend in the market that I’m fascinated by,” he said. “The most progressive educational institutions want EV drivers coming to them.”
For now, ChargePoint appears to be in the “survive and outwit” phase of its existence. Although the company has taken some hits on its financial statements, it remains the largest EV public charging network in the U.S. (though mostly Level 2 chargers). The charging industry is likely considering continued integration, to use another of Wilmar’s metaphors. Currently, most hard drives are manufactured by only a handful of companies.
Ultimately, the industry’s goal is the WiFi moment. We live in a time when EV charging is so common and ubiquitous that we hardly even notice it.
“This industry will get there, too,” he said. “We’re going to follow the same maturation, standardization path until interoperability becomes more stringent. And we’ll eventually come to accept it as a given. It’s just a new technology that’s experiencing pain.”
Contact the author: patrick.george@insideevs.com
