HOW TO OFFER THE BEST EV CHARGING EXPERIENCE FOR EV DRIVERS

The EV market went from a small niche market to a mass market in the last decade. After 2020, the growth only continued. EV sales skyrocketed in 2022, going up by 60% compared to 2021.

And the predictions for the rest of this decade are more than positive. The Net Zero Emissions by 2050 Scenario suggests that EV sales will climb up to 60% of all vehicle sales in 2030 (up from the current 18%).

In Europe, we expect to reach a first milestone of 14 million EVs by 2025. After that, some estimates talk about 40 million EVs roaming around Europe at the same time.

To keep up with this strong growth, the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (ACEA) estimates that the continent will need 6.8 million EV charging points by 2030 to meet its target of reducing car emissions by 55%.

As the e-mobility ecosystem develops, it becomes more structured, with various standards emerging to make EV drivers’ lives easier.

Plug standards

Before the decision to ban the sale of ICE vehicles in Europe by 2035 was adopted, the world of EV charging was a bit like the Wild West.

To introduce some structure, common plug standards were adopted – Type 2 and CCS (Combined Charging System) – so EV drivers can easily connect to any EV charging station.

Learn more about these plug standards.

A positive charging experience requires the hardware (the charging point) and the software (the mobile application) to work correctly. However, the two are not necessarily maintained by the same players.

The two players who have to ensure the charging service works properly are:

CPO (Charge Point Operator)

The CPO owns the charging infrastructure and ensures that the equipment is in working order. The EV driver is not a direct customer of the CPO.

EMSP (e-Mobility Service Provider)

The EMSP manages the service for EV drivers. This means managing the subscription process, invoicing, and supplying digital tools such as the mobile app or RFID tags.

Find out more about CPOs, EMSPs and their roles in our blog!

1. Good usability and availability

The EV charger must have easy-to-understand instructions accompanied by pictograms or visuals to help with each step.

The more tasks the EV driver has to perform to charge their vehicle, the more their experience will be negatively affected. The EV driver must be able to follow the instructions without any difficulty or outside help and within a limited timeframe.

The speed with which these tasks can be completed varies, depending on whether the EV driver is a new or a seasoned user.

You can keep a close eye on the success of your EV chargers by using a remote charging management platform to check that:

• The vehicle is properly connected
• Charging is proceeding correctly
• The cable is not blocked

2. Roaming

Roaming enables EV drivers to charge outside their service provider’s network. EV drivers can access thousands of charging points worldwide without registering with multiple service providers.

Roaming EV drivers pay a roaming fee (flat rate or per hour/kW) in addition to the regular tariff.

3. One-time payment with a payment card

Just because an EV driver wanting to charge at one of your charging points doesn’t subscribe to your service, that doesn’t mean they should receive poor service.

Customers who don’t have either an RFID tag or a mobile app should still be able to benefit from a quality service. ”Pay-as-you-go” is therefore becoming the norm to accommodate these customers.

In the UK, the Public Charging Point Regulations mandate contactless payment options for all new public chargers of 8 kW or above. Enforcing contactless payments is becoming a standard in many European countries.

4. 24/7 assistance

EV drivers must be able to obtain information quickly during a technical or administrative problem. For general questions, they can find help for the most common issues in the mobile application or on the website of their service provider.

For more specific questions and technical problem-solving, access to a 24/7 helpline is necessary. A mandatory 24/7 helpline offered by the CPO is one of the Public Charging Point Regulations, too.

5. Weather protection

If your charging points aren’t located in a covered parking lot, it’s a good idea to install a covering to protect EV drivers from adverse weather if your location allows it. Installing a covering for your chargers can also allow you to install solar panels and generate solar energy to power up your charging points.

The importance of collecting (and using) data

In today’s world, data is gold. Collecting various data related to EV charging, from the performance of the chargers to user behaviour, can help you adjust and improve your service to best fit the needs of your customers.

As with any service, the data can be both quantitative and qualitative. It’s a combination of the two that will provide the most accurate picture of your service and give you the best insights on improving it.

What is A/B testing?

You can suggest two charging locations to your customers and analyse which one appeals the most to them. This enables you to determine what works best for your EV drivers. You need to run this test through many EV drivers and in equal numbers to see which option stands out.

You can use the collected data to develop personas and user journeys. This allows you to verify the assumptions you have made about your EV-driving customers and to guide your plans forward.

Creating a persona is the starting point for improving any customer experience, including the charging one. It enables us to determine basic assumptions and beliefs about the target user of our service.

What is a persona?

Establishing a persona defines the people we want to target based on their expectations and behaviour. The charging experience can be mapped out to fit the needs of each persona.

To define a persona, you can conduct interviews, make field observations and collect market data to group and consolidate the information into segment profiles. It’s good to create 3 or 4 personas for the best result.

Satisfaction survey findings

A feedback form or a satisfaction survey sent out after a charging session can be used to gather ‘on-the-spot’ feedback from EV drivers. This form can have open and closed questions to monitor customer satisfaction as closely as possible.

The questionnaire can be used to:

• Analyse the success - or failure - of modifying the charging route
• Analyse EV drivers’ pain points
• Identify the different types of EV drivers (personas)

For a short-form survey, 2 questions are enough:

1. Generally speaking, are you satisfied or dissatisfied with our EV charging service?
2. How likely would you be to recommend our EV charging service to your friends and family?

For a longer version, you can create more specific questions:

1. Are there any aspects of our EV charging service that you find particularly unpleasant?
2. What aspect of our EV charging service do you appreciate the most?
3. Please indicate your level of satisfaction with the following aspects of our EV charging service:
   1. Ease of use
   2. Availability of EV chargers
   3. Payment options
   4. Mobile application
   5. Design

And to find out more about the EV driver:

1. How long have you been using our EV charging services?
2. How many times have you used our EV charging service in the last week?

EV charging service providers are keen to strengthen customer satisfaction by building loyalty. The truth is that EV drivers are becoming more sophisticated and expect more from the customer experience. Thanks to these additional services, you can ensure greater commitment from your EV-driving customers.

Offer the services of an EV charging host/hostess

As in the days of old-fashioned service stations, why not offer the services of hosts or hostesses at your busiest charging locations? New customers who have yet to become familiar with your EV charging service will appreciate dedicated support on the spot, at least for the first few charging sessions.

These ’charging advisors’ can show EV drivers how to choose the right station for their type of vehicle, help them plug in and identify themselves at the charging station, give them recommendations on how much they need to fill their battery up and more.

Offer fully sustainable charging

Climate change is a major concern for consumers everywhere. And 44% of consumers choose an EV because of the environmental benefits, based on a survey done by Europcar Mobility Group UK. To make your EV drivers feel good about doing their part for the environment, you can highlight how much petrol has been spared during their charging session.

To further your commitments, you can offer 100% sustainable charging using renewable electricity with guarantees of origin to your EV drivers.

Our service, Virta Origin, offers exactly that.

Anticipate the Plug&Charge revolution

In the EV world of ever-evolving technology, we’re seeing a new charging standard emerging: the ISO 15118 or «Plug & Charge» standard. It enables direct communication between the vehicle, the charging point and the electricity network. Communication occurs via the cable when it’s plugged in or via a 4G connection.

The system can identify a vehicle and its owner and start the charging session without human intervention, hence the name ‘Plug & Charge’. It‘s that simple.

For now, this technology still needs to be more developed. Only a few automakers offer this service, but it’s anticipated Plug & Charge will take off as it takes the easiness of a charging experience to new heights.

Virta has partnered with BMW to integrate the service into its new models.

To enable Plug & Charge on your charging sites, your charging stations must be compatible, and your remote management platform must be able to supervise all the charging sessions securely.

Encourage reservation

The times EV drivers mostly charge varies considerably throughout the day.

On average, almost 20% of charging is done between 8 AM and 10 AM. The busiest period is between 2 PM and 6 PM (more than 25% of charging is done during this period).

To make the charging experience as smooth as possible, offer the opportunity to book a slot on the mobile app so your customers can avoid waiting. Spreading charging sessions throughout the day also avoids putting pressure on the electrical system.

Offer standard, fast and ultra-fast charging

If your site is in a high-traffic area, don’t hesitate to offer fast and ultra-fast DC charging points. This will appeal to EV drivers who still have a long way to go and are in a hurry. As DC charging stations’ initial costs are higher than standard AC chargers, you can set premium prices and profit more.

At Virta, we support you by offering a comprehensive end-to-end EV charging solution to help you launch this new service quickly and easily.

Your brand, our expertise

Thanks to our branding possibilities, you can associate the EV charging service with your company and brand, incorporating your colours and logo throughout the customer journey.

Our end-to-end solution includes:

• Registration page
• Mobile app
• One-time payment site
• Personalised hardware
• Welcome e-mails
• RFID tags
• Your branding on all customer touch-points
• Personalised language (FR, DE, EN, SV, FI) and currency settings

Our solution also gives you access to insightful EV driver behaviour data. You can use that information to launch promotional and loyalty campaigns to encourage registered EV drivers to return to you more frequently.

Everything you need to launch and run a successful EV charging service in one package.