In 2035, 50% of all global car sales will be electric vehicles, so Goldman Sachs predicts in their IHS Global Insight. For players in the EV charging sector, this means there’s work to do. They’ll have to build a dense charging infrastructure, set up stable grid connections and think about payment methods.
But while they’re driving the EV sector forward, EV players should also keep an eye on the people that will drive the electric cars themselves: end users, who have closely followed sector developments and now expect the very best. This applies to EVs but to EV necessities just as well. Soon, having a charger is no longer enough, for the same reason that owning a smartphone is no longer enough. Koen Elands, product owner at Peblar: “I expect aesthetics, design and user experience to become crucial factors in the charger selection process.”
Aesthetics and design options
Up until recently, EV chargers were just chargers: a functional component essential for EV owners to recharge their cars. As the market for electric vehicles has grown and more options to choose a manufacturer or charger type have become available, aesthetics have started to play a more significant role, especially when it comes to home chargers.
If a buyer can’t make up his mind, he might as well go with the shiniest option available
And it makes sense. With a plethora of chargers to choose from, people now have the luxury of taking visual appeal and design into account. As a result, manufacturers and service providers are starting to recognise the importance of aesthetics, too, creating visually appealing and well-designed chargers to delight and even attract customers. Koen says: “If a buyer can’t make up his mind, he might as well go with the shiniest option available. It’s why we paid great attention to aesthetics when we were developing our own chargers.”
EV drivers don't want yet another app; they want interoperability
Apart from aesthetics, design options also play an increasingly important role. Koen Elands, product owner at Peblar, explains: “Where a few years ago businesses simply purchased the EV chargers that were available, they now look out for charger brands they can tailor to their own brand guidelines. At Peblar, we see a great increase in the sales of our custom white label chargers that offer great flexibility in terms of design and features.”
Simplicity over exclusivity
Aesthetics and design options are not the only reason for today’s EV drivers and businesses to go with a certain charger provider. Spoiled by digital enterprises such as Netflix, Apple and Spotify, they’re expecting nothing less than a great user experience and an intuitive setup.
For charger providers, creating an iOS and Android app seems the obvious route to get there. However, every connected device comes with an app already. There’s one for the smart thermostat, the car, solar panels, the lights, the overall energy consumption of the household, and other home devices. Adding yet another app to this list only siloes information you’d like to see integrated into one ecosystem.
"EV drivers don't want yet another app; they want interoperability,” says Koen. Recognising this need, Peblar took a different approach by forgoing the development of another app and instead opting for a web interface. “A web interface can do everything an app does,” Koen explains. “You could even create a hyperlink on the home screen of your phone for easy access.”
Instead of creating an app, Peblar decided to join forces with renowned platforms like HomeWizard. “In the world of EV driving, exclusivity works well when it comes to design and luxury features,” Koen says. “But the real game-changer lies in simplifying the charging experience and ensuring smooth interoperability. It's these factors that will drive EV adoption to become the new norm.”
Future readiness
A third customer expectation lies in future readiness of the chargers they buy. There’s nothing worse than buying a state-of-the-art product, only to realise it’s not compatible with the newest market developments. Bidirectional charging, for example, is expected to be the next big thing in the EV sector, as it allows EV owners to let electricity flow back to their houses when needed. Bidirectional charging is technically possible, but needs to undergo many changes until it’s ready for the big public.
“One of the challenges lies in the disparity between DC in cars and AC in houses,” Koen says. Although some AC chargers, like Peblar’s, support bidirectional charging, it’s complex to efficiently channel energy back into households with minimal losses and establish a standardised communication system among the EV, backoffice, energy management system, and provider. “Adjusting the EV's onboard charger for AC discharge requires redesign and additional costs,” Koen explains. “Then again, opting for DC bidirectional charging increases charger expenses. Despite technical feasibility, the business case is difficult and dependent on regulations, agreements, and infrastructure. Our Peblar models support bidirectional charging, ensuring future readiness, but commercial availability remains uncertain.”
The solution to this unpredictability lies in making charger hardware future-ready, so there’s no need to replace the charger when new inventions arise, whether it be bidirectional or solar charging. Koen: “If the hardware is ready to go, all users need to do is update the software, which they can do themselves.”
The new phase of EV driving
Now that the EV market begins to resemble a move from early adopters to the early majority, there’s massive potential for those innovating and driving the industry forward. Although players in the EV sector should definitely look at technical components such as charging infrastructure and grid connections, they should also anticipate higher customer expectations, which include nice-looking accessories, Netflix-level user experience and the flexibility to anticipate any new, cool inventions that come our way. It’s a lot to take in, but if they start acting now instead of waiting for the year 2026, they might just pull it off.
