I’m not an EV evangelist, and I’m not an EV critic. I’m borrowing one. That may actually make my recent experience with public charging more useful, because I came into it without an agenda. I simply expected the system to work.
What I found instead was a series of basic failures that made me wonder how public electric-vehicle charging is supposed to become ordinary transportation infrastructure if drivers cannot rely on the equipment to do something as simple as connect, take payment and release the car.
This is not an argument against electric vehicles. It is an argument for making the infrastructure around them work reliably enough that ordinary people can trust it.
The first problem: a charger that would not properly connect
My first recent problem happened at a ChargePoint station in the garage where I park. The charger itself is convenient in theory. It is a lower-speed charger, roughly the kind of unit you can plug into for several hours while the car sits.
The problem was the charging connector. The clip that is supposed to hold the receptacle securely in place was damaged and would not engage properly.
That is frustrating enough. But the real problem came next.
Once the charger is connected, the system can lock the connector to the vehicle. In my case, I reached the point where I no longer wanted to use the charger because the equipment was not functioning correctly, yet I could not simply remove it from the car.
Think about that from a consumer’s point of view. You arrive intending to buy electricity. The equipment is defective. You decide you do not want to complete the transaction. Yet the charging equipment will not release your vehicle.
I eventually called ChargePoint support, and a representative walked me through the procedure needed to release the connector. The support interaction solved the immediate problem, but that should not be a normal part of fueling a car.
Then EVgo: faster charger, different failure
My next attempt was with EVgo. I specifically chose a high-speed charger because I did not want to spend hours waiting. A fast charger seemed like exactly the solution public EV infrastructure is supposed to provide.
The connector itself appeared to be in good condition. I plugged it in. Then I tried to pay.
The contactless payment reader did not work. I tried the card reader. My card was declined repeatedly. I tried again. Same result.
At that point, the frustration becomes much larger than a malfunctioning payment terminal. The whole promise of a fast charger is convenience. If a driver has to troubleshoot hardware, payment systems and support procedures just to buy electricity, the convenience disappears.
This is not about being anti-EV
There is an obvious danger in writing about this from a place like Chula Vista: complaining about an electric car can sound like complaining about a luxury problem.
That would miss the point.
Chula Vista has a broad economic mix, and electric vehicles are no longer some exotic niche. They are increasingly common throughout California, whether someone owns a Tesla, leases another EV, buys one used, borrows one temporarily or simply finds themselves driving one as part of a rental or replacement-car situation.
That is exactly why reliability matters. A longtime EV owner may already know which networks work best, how to use each app and what to do when a connector refuses to release. A newcomer does not.
If California wants electric vehicles to function as mainstream transportation, the system has to work for the person using public charging for the first time just as reliably as it works for someone who has been doing it for years.
The property owner question
There is another issue worth discussing: the businesses and property owners that host these chargers.
A shopping center, parking garage, big-box retailer or other commercial property often promotes EV charging as an amenity. That makes sense. A customer can charge while shopping, eating or running errands.
But when a charger on that property is visibly broken or repeatedly malfunctioning, who owns the customer experience?
The charging network operates the equipment. The property owner may simply provide the location. In some cases there may be commercial arrangements between the property owner and the network, while in others there may not be. Consumers usually have no idea what those agreements look like.
So I am not suggesting that a retailer should automatically be blamed every time a third-party charger fails.
But if you put a charging station on your property and promote it as an amenity, its condition becomes part of the experience associated with your location. A broken charger sitting in front of a recognizable retail brand is still a broken charger the customer remembers.
California is beginning to regulate charger reliability
This problem is significant enough that California has started putting formal reliability requirements around parts of the public charging network.
The California Energy Commission has adopted EV charger data and reliability standards aimed at improving driver confidence and charger dependability. For certain publicly or ratepayer-funded direct-current fast chargers installed since 2024, the standards include a 97% uptime requirement, reporting requirements and operation-and-maintenance rules.
That is an important step because the meaningful number is not simply how many chargers exist. It is how many are actually available, functional and able to complete a charging session when a driver arrives.
California’s rules do not cover every charger in every parking lot, but the direction is right: reliability has to become measurable.
What charging companies should be doing better
Drivers should not have to become technicians just to charge a car. At a minimum, public charging networks should be able to deliver:
- Connectors that are physically inspected and repaired promptly.
- Payment systems that consistently accept legitimate forms of payment.
- Accurate status information showing whether a charger is truly usable.
- A simple and obvious way to report damaged equipment.
- Fast support when a connector will not release a vehicle.
- Published maintenance and response standards so customers know what to expect.
Property owners hosting chargers should also have an easy way to escalate visibly broken equipment rather than simply waiting for drivers to discover the problem one after another.
The lesson for anyone considering an EV
My takeaway is not “do not buy an electric car.” It is more practical than that.
If you are considering an EV, particularly a used one, think carefully about how you will actually charge it. Home charging changes the equation dramatically. If you expect to depend heavily on public charging, look at the networks and stations you would realistically use before making the decision.
And if you are simply borrowing or renting an EV, do not assume the public-charging experience will be as straightforward as pulling into a gas station.
It should be. It increasingly needs to be. But based on my recent experience, we are not consistently there yet.
Reliability is not a bonus feature of EV charging. Reliability is the product.
Editor’s note: The experiences with ChargePoint and EVgo described above are firsthand experiences involving specific charging sessions. They are not intended to suggest that every charger operated by either company has the same problems.
Background: The California Energy Commission’s current EV Charger Data and Reliability Standards include reliability, uptime and reporting requirements for certain publicly funded chargers. More information is available from the California Energy Commission.
