- Joined
- Aug 15, 2021
- Messages
- 1,308
Yet another new charging network has appeared on the scene: Graviti Energy. They appear to be based on Texas (Houston?) with an affiliation with EVGateway.
Maybe it's just startup issues, but I will say they don't seem to have their act together yet. Their online map is a bit flaky, and the three stations that were added to AFDC today each had issues (address, location, stall count, not matching their online information, etc.) We'll have to see whether the hardware they've selected will be reliable or not.
I have to believe that there is going to be some significant consolidation of these minor networks. Sure, I do appreciate the fact that they may be filling a gap that the larger providers are not addressing. Or maybe the future of EV charging will be like today's ATM networks that at first were little islands of barely interconnected networks, but today exist as a plethora of different providers that at least all talk on the same network. Maybe it's more efficient to have many small providers each servicing a regional set of charging stations rather than a huge national outfit that can't keep up with expansion and maintenance/repair.
But a charging station is not an ATM. An ATM can be built to be very rugged and do its primary function (dispensing cash) pretty much the same across the world. Charging stations, however, seem to need a lot of TLC, and each one has different capabilities and UI's. So it's not like I can see a charging station located in the shopping center I am visiting and know that it will be sufficiently high power to serve my needs and I'll be able to quickly figure out how to use it without having to sign up for another network and download an app.
I don't necessarily want to not have competition in the charging industry, but I'm not sure I want 100 different providers either.
What are your thoughts?
Maybe it's just startup issues, but I will say they don't seem to have their act together yet. Their online map is a bit flaky, and the three stations that were added to AFDC today each had issues (address, location, stall count, not matching their online information, etc.) We'll have to see whether the hardware they've selected will be reliable or not.
I have to believe that there is going to be some significant consolidation of these minor networks. Sure, I do appreciate the fact that they may be filling a gap that the larger providers are not addressing. Or maybe the future of EV charging will be like today's ATM networks that at first were little islands of barely interconnected networks, but today exist as a plethora of different providers that at least all talk on the same network. Maybe it's more efficient to have many small providers each servicing a regional set of charging stations rather than a huge national outfit that can't keep up with expansion and maintenance/repair.
But a charging station is not an ATM. An ATM can be built to be very rugged and do its primary function (dispensing cash) pretty much the same across the world. Charging stations, however, seem to need a lot of TLC, and each one has different capabilities and UI's. So it's not like I can see a charging station located in the shopping center I am visiting and know that it will be sufficiently high power to serve my needs and I'll be able to quickly figure out how to use it without having to sign up for another network and download an app.
I don't necessarily want to not have competition in the charging industry, but I'm not sure I want 100 different providers either.
What are your thoughts?
