Its no secret the EV revolution is well underway with investment in producing more EVs and building out additional EVSE infrastructure at an all time high, a new trend in the EV charging space is emerging that is making things a lot more complicated.

The single largest issue that prevents most people from buying an electric vehicle today is having easy access to a charging station. EV chargers and charging companies should be solving the very real problems that stand in the way of the industry. Problems like limited access to power, expensive infrastructure upgrades, and slow charging speeds all need to be addressed. (Some do have real world solutions) However, it seems that adding more complexity for the sake of additional features is becoming a troubling trend.

Too Much Redundancy

Today every popular EV model comes with its own smartphone app, giving drivers access to a great deal of useful, insightful, and sometimes just plain fun information about their vehicles and how they drive. This added feature makes a great deal of sense, however in addition to the vehicle app, most charging station manufacturers also have their own app that brings nearly no additional information and simple acts as a less accurate redundancy of the vehicle app.

This begs the question, why are these companies wasting resources building a product that already exists and is half as useful?

Perhaps this persists because customers ask for it, perhaps they see a need to give drivers multiple locations to find the same information, or maybe they've simply ran out of good ideas. Whatever the reason this begs the question, why are these companies wasting resources building a product that already exists and is half as useful?

An Alexa Feature No One Asked For

Recently a new trend has emerged, giving Alexa voice control over the charging station. This again makes little sense, for one you can start and stop charging in the EVs app, have it stop at a set percentage, and even schedule times for it start and stop charging if you felt so inclined (although there is no proof that any of this is necessary). Furthermore, even if you did see some use in yelling at Alexa to start or stop charging your vehicle, its not as though you still don't have to plug the car in when you come home or unplug it when you leave.

Again there are probably a large number of reasons that this technology exists, but the question remains, why built out features like this instead of solving some of the larger pain points that EV drivers feel. Instead of making a difference for EV drivers they have chosen to use their investment capital in bringing a number of half-baked ideas to life that no one really asked for to begin with.

The Silver Lining

In all of this there is a sliver lining and one that should keep everyone bullish on the overall EV market. In spite of these relatively unneeded features much of the EV industry is on a roll. This past year market yet another year of record growth for EVs worldwide and even more automotive giants have dedicated billions of dollars into building better, faster, and longer lasting EVs.

Companies like EverCharge have developed charging technology that not only resolve many pain points for EV drivers but also break new ground in the charging community. Allowing multi-tenant buildings the ability to quickly and affordably offer their residents EV charging, allow fleet managers an easy way to power hundreds of vehicles with minimal access to power and cost, and are working on new technologies that not only make EV ownership easy and far more preferrable to cumbustion engines.

EV chargers should solve problems and thats exactly what we do.