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The various billings groups, cards, keys, accounts, phone apps is frustrating, but I don't see any drive to unify this. Electric vehicles are becoming mainstre
by dm319 6y ago
The various billings groups, cards, keys, accounts, phone apps is frustrating, but I don't see any drive to unify this. Electric vehicles are becoming mainstream, and I think regular customers will find the various providers confusing. For example, I planned to do some shopping at a place where I knew they had free charging. I figured I would be in the store for about 2 hours, which for a 22kW charger should have fully charged the car. Despite being relatively tech-savvy, I wasn't aware that my 120kW limit applied only to DC charging, and not AC charging, so it was reduced to 11kW. Which it only did for 5 minutes because apparently I needed to navigate to a website and 'ok' it online for it to continue.
Until a non-tech savvy person can simply drive up and pay for the electricity like at any other petrol station, EVs are going to run into some serious issues and disappointed customers. At the moment it works for those who are willing to put the effort in.
- trhaynes 6y agoI have a horrifying vision of huge "dongles" everywhere ... like USB/headphone/etc but for cars. $100 each, aftermarket is $50 but they slowly ruin your batteries, etc.
- dm319 6y agoThankfully the cars are at least converging on the Type 2 connector. It's a shame though that with the ubiquity of contactless payments, I can't use many stations without registering and applying for a fob or card to arrive in the mail.
- phkahler 6y agoLike I said, everyone wants to be a middleman and get a piece of the action, and your usage data. The end game should look just like pumping gas. Maybe even take cash at the dispenser. I bring this up at work. Build what vehicle owners want, not what industry investors want.