Because charging stations are too unreliable: Woman founds repair start-up

(Electrify America, symbolic image)The charging network is significantly sparser in many regions of the USA than in Germany.

In parts of the USA, the charging infrastructure is even more patchy than in Germany. Defective and destroyed charging stations are not uncommon there. A resourceful entrepreneur has turned this situation into a business from which all parties can benefit.

The USA is about 27.5 times the size of Germany. However, while the Federal Network Agency’s charging station register counted a good 103,226 normal charging points and 25,291 fast charging points for electric cars as of March 1, 2024, the US Department of Energy and Transportation listed a total of only around 190,000 charging stations. This is particularly noticeable outside of the major US metropolitan regions, for example in the Midwest, where the charging network is much sparser than here.

This makes it all the more important that the few charging stations available to e-car drivers in these regions also work. However, this is not always the case: A 2023 study cited by the AP news agency found that almost a quarter of the fast-charging stations in the city of San Francisco, which has a population of one million, were defective. The data analysis company JD Power also found that 21 percent of e-car drivers in the US have visited a public charging station that was not working.

Defective charging stations: A young entrepreneur wants to keep the infrastructure running

American Kameale Terry has turned this situation into a business: Terry is co-founder of a company that maintains charging stations for electric cars independently of the provider. According to the AP, Terry came up with the idea when she was visiting her mother, who was suffering from cancer, in South Central Los Angeles. Terry had given up her job in banking and was looking for a flexible job so that she could spend more time caring for her mother.

The 35-year-old first took a job at EV Connect, a company that makes software for electric car charging stations. There, Terry worked in what is known as “driver support”: she took calls from electric car drivers who found a defective charging station. Terry then either provided telephone support or sent a technician to repair the station. “When I saw that the charging processes were not running optimally, I wanted to find out how I could help make it work optimally,” Terry told the AP.

In 2020, the American also founded the company ChargerHelp!. The stated goal: to train and provide technicians nationwide who can repair charging stations and thus reduce downtime. What is particularly interesting is that Terry says she has found that her best technicians often come from the oil and gas industry or from sales. “It’s just great to see a group of people who may not have known much about this area, but who are convinced of the idea of ​​massively driving forward the introduction of electric cars.” “That gives me so much joy,” says Terry.

ChargerHelp! Wants to offer uncomplicated help to petrol stations and companies

How ChargerHelp! works: If a mechanical or electronic problem occurs at a charging station, the operator of the gas station or store where the charging station is located sends a request via the company app. A technician then either provides remote assistance if the problem can be resolved remotely, or a technician comes. This probably doesn’t just affect e-car drivers and ChargerHelp! I’m happy: An MIT research company recently concluded in a study that the location of charging stations noticeably boosts the sales of nearby retailers.

The damage to the charging stations is varied, reports field sales manager Clyde Ellis: charging stations that a car has crashed into, stolen copper cables or infestations by squirrels, frogs, ants and other insects. “I once had a honeycomb with honey leaking out of the side of the charging station,” recalled Ellis. The problem of charging stations with mechanical defects is primarily a problem in the US: there are fewer charging station operators sharing the charging network, and in the past operators such as Electrify America have often installed charging stations that were no longer maintained after a while.

Ellis also previously worked in the oil and gas industry. The job was stable – but at some point Ellis wanted to make a change: “I realized that I was working in an industry that was not compatible with our environment,” explains the charging station expert. “I had to step back and really look at what was happening around me … and I asked myself, how can I make a change? How can I be a part of something bigger?”

The US government, led by President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, has set itself the goal of having half of all new cars and trucks on the streets in the US be electric by 2030. ChargeHelp! founder Terry believes that this is only possible if people can also trust the charging infrastructure. ChargerHelp! is currently active in 17 states.