That is the view of Dan Lakey, VP business solutions at end-to-end EV charging systems provider Fortress Solutions, who says charging point operators should actively monitor everything they can.
Speaking at the EV Charging 101 virtual event, he said: "As you start to build out an expansive network of EV chargers, it gets increasingly difficult and problems arise due to the volume of deployments and equipment.
"The first thing you have to know is what's going on, you have to monitor these devices 24/7 so you know they're up and running. At the basic level that's the charger equipment and its software. Most of this equipment has SIM cards in it so it can communicate to the internet and let you know if there's a fault."
Lakey adds that call centres should be available to customers who are having problems with using or paying at an EV charging device. This involves having a physical or virtual network operations center (NOC) where all of these operations and alarms come to one place and can be seen through "a single pane of glass" by staff who are knowledgable and know what actions to take when there is an issue.
"As an owner-operator of of an EV charging system, you are providing a service for your tenants, or employees or the public market and they expect these systems to be up and running 90-plus per cent of the time," says Lakey.
