It is clear that mass adoption of Electric Vehicles is on the horizon. And for the most part, the national conversation is focused on the Electric Vehicles and all of the different companies manufacturing new cars to meet the demand. There is much less focus right now on the charging networks. This seems odd when we consider that some of the biggest companies associated with cars are fuel companies. How much of the internal combustion engine car economy is about the fueling of those internal combustion engines? A lot.

And yet, it seems like the Electric Vehicle charging networks being set up in the United States are afterthoughts. With the exception of Tesla’s supercharger network, most of America’s new Electric Vehicle charging infrastructure is fraught with user experience design flaws. It is the “wild west” right now, and the non-Tesla charging networks seem destined to fail because of their design flaws.

Here are the most common user experience design flaws that all of the non-Tesla charging networks are dealing with (or not dealing with).

1. The plug doesn’t reach.

One of the most annoyingly obvious design flaws with many charging stations is the reach of the charging cable. When you drive up to a gas station stall, you never have to worry about if the pump is going to reach your car. But, with many non-Tesla charging stations the cable sometimes does not reach where you need it to reach to charge your car. Sometimes you see cars parked across multiple parking spaces so that the cable can reach. Sometimes this even means taking up multiple EV charging stations parking spaces. This of course will be more and more problematic with the increase in Electric Vehicles trying to use those charging stations.

In fewer cases, some charging stations have the opposite problem where the charging cable is clearly longer than it needs to be and is at risk of being run over or tangled and mangled, which would likely create problems that would require more maintenance.

The image above is kind of interesting. Instead of the plug going to the car, it is coming from the car. There might be reasons to consider altering charging station design so that there is no cable coming from the charging station at all. Then again, it might be cumbersome (and maybe also not ideal) to reverse the design so that the cable comes from the car to the charging station.

2. Variable charging speed.

Not all Electric Vehicle charging stations are created equal. Even the ones that look exactly the same can be different in noticeable ways related to charging speed and therefore overall experience. Keep in mind that if Electric Vehicles are adopted by the masses, most of the general population doesn’t have a very good understanding of basic physics, and they shouldn’t need to understand basic physics to own an Electric Vehicle. Although, a more scientifically literate general population would be a nice byproduct of the Electric Vehicle revolution.

Electric Vehicle charging networks would benefit from standardizing charging time across all of American charging infrastructure. Obviously, charging times will continue to get better, but predictability is also important. Having two chargers that look the same that have vastly different charging times is not good.

Perhaps this could be the responsibility of Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg. Under his leadership, the Department of Transportation could develop a set of design and user experience standards for America’s Electric Vehicle charging infrastructure.

3. Heavy charging plugs and cables.

I’m not saying I have trouble lifting the charging plugs and the cables, but Grandma might. Also, the holsters are a little bit clunky. If you think about the “plugs and holsters” of our gas stations today, it is clear that they have been optimized (or they were at some point) for the general public. Again, this doesn’t apply as much to Tesla charging stations. Really, this whole list doesn’t apply as much to Tesla charging stations. Tesla’s supercharger network is currently the best designed with regard to the ergonomics and user experience.

4. Non-starts and reboots.

Most of the Electric Vehicle charging networks are touting their uptime, but this is clearly less reality and more marketing. Anyone that has used any of the non-Tesla charging networks has had more than one experience when they had to re-park at an adjacent charger because the charger they parked at wouldn’t start charging or they had to wait for the charging station to reboot.

If a charging network touts having a 99% uptime, does that mean that 99% of the time the chargers are on or working or not down for maintenance? Maybe instead of uptime, charging networks should measure number of non-starts and reboots.

5. Location, location, location.

Some charging stations are perfectly placed where they can be found simply by going to the address listed on their respective app. However, there are many charging stations that are hiding. A lot of charging stations have been tucked away behind gas stations or placed on the second and third levels of parking garages. Charging stations should emulate gas stations and start peacocking. The post below speaks to this idea.

Conclusion

Electric Vehicle charging networks need to focus on the details.