For new players in the EV manufacturing space, success depends on finding ways to stand out. That means designing your charging stations with aesthetics top of mind and including software out of the box to integrate with future EV innovations. It also means doubling down on using high-quality, automotive-grade hardware to ensure the reliability of the product is as close to 100% as possible. This is exactly the strategy Autel Energy took when Autel entered the EV charging market, according to John Thomas, COO of Autel Energy North America – and he says it’s working.
Of course, Thomas says, Autel Energy began manufacturing EV chargers with a leg up in the marketplace thanks to its pedigree of creating diagnostic tools to connect and communicate with vehicles on a deeply critical level. As a result, Thomas says he knows better than anyone how important reliability is when it comes to the automotive industry.
“We build our own software and we build our own hardware, which includes all the way down to the board level. Those green boards with all the connectivity and the wires and the microchips on them? We actually do that ourselves and we do that to OEM standards,” Thomas says. “That helps position ourselves strongly in the marketplace. Now, in the EV charging market, people are talking about 97% [reliability] and how great that would be, but if your phone doesn’t work 3% of the time, you’re not a happy camper at the end of the day. We believe the charging event has to be similar. When we go to a gas pump, the gas pump works all the time, and a charger also has to do the same. So, that’s our target. We’re going for 100%.”
On this episode of The Amped EV Podcast, Thomas joins us to explain what it takes to gain consumer trust in a crowded market, what EV charging station customers really want, and why Autel Energy is investing so much in future-proofing technology integration like Plug and Charge and bi-directional charging.
This is an audio-only version of our episode with John Thomas, COO of Autel Energy North America. Go ahead, you’re already here – take a listen! But, if you’re looking for moving pictures, click here.
