ChargePoint to Create Virtual Lines for EV Charger Time
Photo: byronv2
As more and more electric cars hit the roads, the biggest problem continues to be that there aren’t enough charging stations. In more congested areas where more people have bought EVs, for example, large numbers of electric cars might find themselves competing for time on a limited number of public chargers.
Electric charger network operator ChargePoint, whom we have talked about in regards to its innovative ideas before, decided that what chargers really could use was a waiting list.
Enter the aptly-named Waitlist program. As the name suggests, this allows user to get in a virtual line for the charger by reserving a certain time to use it. This takes away the uncertainty of driving by a charger, then having to lurk about waiting for the person already using the station to leave. Waitlist is available by phone app or by tapping a ChargePoint card on the station’s RFID reader.
At the end of each time slot or once the car is fully charged, the station just notifies the next person in line. If a person habitually goes to the same charger each day, Waitlist can also automatically add them to the line, and if someone who is signed up becomes busy during their time, they can defer to the next person in line.
All in all, ChargePoint claims that in a limited trial run, Waitlist made station utilization jump up 20% on average, but anywhere up to 45% at particularly busy stations, with an average of 500 drivers lined up at stations on any given day during the trial, with each receiving “adequate” charging.
Waitlist will soon be available on all ChargePoint stations.
News Source: Green Car Reports
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