In this three-part series we explore what it’s like for customers to buy and charge an electric vehicle (EV) today. In our previous blog, we followed the journey of Alex, a hypothetical EV buyer, and explored how researching the right EV for her to purchase was an overwhelming and confusing experience.
In this blog, we will assume that Alex has now bought her EV and charge point and dig deeper into the challenges facing her as she moves into the ‘set-up and onboarding’ stage of her EV journey.
At this point, Alex will consider:
- Which apps she will use and how to set them up with her EV
- What the cheapest and greenest charging methods are and how they factor into her overall experience of owning an EV
- What her public charging options are and what she needs in order to get the most out of this charging method
Set-up: App overload
Our research has found that in the current EV climate, Alex will likely need at least eight apps on her phone to set up and manage her EV day-to-day. Each app gives her some information on a specific aspect of her EV use – such as where she can charge, when best to charge, how much it’s costing and battery health – but there is no single app that can give her this holistic view so she has to download and flit between several.
For example, Alex’s energy supplier app may give her some information on her EV home charging electricity use and costs, but these insights are likely to be basic. Meanwhile, Alex’s car app (from the automaker) may offer her some crude functionality to manage her EV charging – but it won’t enable her to always optimise charging for the cheapest, greenest times or schedule when she needs her EV ready to drive by. This overload of digital tools, each lacking depth of functionality, means drivers like Alex are having to do a lot of the work themselves for little benefit, negatively impacting their overall experience of EV ownership. There is an urgent need for a unification and development of capability within a single digital experience to reduce friction for the customer.
Deciding on an energy tariff
At the set-up stage, Alex may want to pair her EV with a particular electricity contract. Our own customer research shows that drivers highly value knowing they are on the best tariff available for their EV and are having a positive impact on the environment. There is a clear appetite for EV tariffs – from ‘standard’ flat-rate tariffs specifically designed for EVs to more ‘advanced’ services that incorporate demand response – meaning customers get paid for their EV’s participation in grid balancing. A recent survey by Shell found that 79% of drivers would use smart charging and 66% would take part in vehicle-to-grid charging.
However, according to Delta-EE, whilst over two thirds of drivers are aware of the advantages of switching to an EV tariff and have considered doing so, most have not yet taken the leap, the reason being that Alex may be unaware of tariffs that offer the right incentives to switch. Switching also requires more work from drivers like Alex at the set-up stage so it’s unsurprising that not many move tariff even when customers are aware of their options.
EV drivers are missing out on significant savings by not opting for these types of tariffs. If drivers were to opt for the OVO Drive Anytime tariff for example, they could charge for 10p/kWh vs charging at up to 34p/kWh on a supplier’s default rate.
For UK customers like Alex, saving costs on EV charging through certain tariffs is becoming increasingly important given the economic crisis. Recent research from British automotive services company the RAC found that a full charge of a typical family-sized SUV cost 84% more in October than it did under the old price cap (£33.80 ($41.20) compared with £18.37 ($22.38)).
Kaluza’s customer research has shown that energy tariffs are the most changeable element to a drivers’ charging setup. Enabling customers like Alex to easily make informed choices throughout their EV experience – switching to a cheaper and/or greener tariff whenever this becomes available, and being able to understand how this feeds into their overall running costs – will be essential in the EV ramp up and satisfaction rates.
Setting up for public charging
Among her collection of EV-related apps, Alex will likely have to download at least one for locating, accessing and paying for public charging. There are over 80 charging networks across the UK, all with their own apps and subscriptions. Many automakers, roaming platforms and even car parks are now also offering their own apps. Alex is therefore faced with a bewildering array of apps and cards for public charging offered by a number of vendors – electric utilities, eMobility specialists, fuel retailers and automakers, amongst others.
The majority of European drivers today own more than one public charging card and app, with over a third of UK drivers using more than 4 public charging apps. The US has a similar problem, with almost all of the charging networks (of which there are at least 35) requiring their own app or card to access in many states.
90% of chargers are not equipped with a credit card reader in the EU, meaning each charging network will often require registration and its own app or card to use. From conversations with our industry partners in this space, it is clear that this issue is one of the top frustrations for EV drivers, and as shown below, comes second only to not being able to easily find a charger when needed. Other areas of dissatisfaction include:
- patchy charger information on availability and pricing
- different pricing conventions between networks, and
- finding chargers that actually work.
Payment Provider Paythru found that up to 80% of UK drivers may be deterred from switching to EVs because of this poor public charging experience.
The experience is similar in the US – this McKinsey survey identified that “the speed, cost, availability (including both free and working chargers), and safety of charging locations” are the main shortcomings of public charging. They showed that drivers struggled to find charging stations because “information is limited; mobile apps for locating them tend to exclude competitors’ chargers, reducing both availability and pricing options. Pricing systems can vary considerably—from pricing by the minute or kilowatt-hour to different rates for memberships or pay per use”. The findings also presented how customers can struggle to tell which option offers better value, and often find payment a hassle.
How do we fix this?
Kaluza’s customer research has shown (perhaps unsurprisingly!) that consolidating these networks into a single, convenient network is highly desirable. In Europe, there are already many service providers attempting to do this, by providing ‘roaming’ networks – a single card or app that enables access to and payment for using multiple different networks. In many cases this is being offered by the automakers themselves.
Although still at early stages of adoption, Plug and Charge, once enabled, will remove the need for cards and apps altogether, offering a more seamless charging experience for drivers. Using Plug and Charge, all Alex would need to do is plug into a charger, charge up, and go – with all of the authentication, initiation and billing processes taken care of in the background.
Mapping out the reliable charger locations and networks that Alex might need based on her most frequently-used routes could also hugely improve her public charging experience. More needs to be done to help Alex plan long journeys and optimise for costs based on the most up-to-date charging information, using inputs such as driver crowdsourced platforms such as &Charge, could go towards remedying much of her existing pain felt within the public charging experience.
Better still, would be if all of these tools could be consolidated within the home charging experience, so that Alex could have one place to easily set up and manage all of her home and away charging requirements, and assess all of her charging costs and data.
Bringing these components together
Kaluza is looking at how to best integrate these different aspects of setting up an EV as part of a single, seamless experience. Our vision is for there to be one place for customers to go to set up their EV with ease, while ensuring the full value of their EVs is used for decarbonising the grid.
Our research shows that drivers change their charging set up over time, often experimenting with public charging networks, energy tariffs, home-charging hardware and charging behaviour. Our solution will therefore look to offer this flexibility to drivers in the set-up phase as well as during the EV charging experience. Stay tuned for our final blog in this series on the charging experience.
