The Quebec manufacturer of charging stations for electric vehicles Flo has reached an agreement with the wireless service provider Telus to connect 60,000 of its public terminals to cellular networks. This will allow it to ensure the reliability of its public network, a way to stand out in a North American industry where outages are increasingly irritating its competitors.
The Flo terminals which will adopt Telus wireless connectivity are located in both Canada and the United States. The Quebec manufacturer is somewhat obliged to update its terminals based on 3G wireless technology, which is gradually disappearing in North America, as wireless service providers migrate to 5G. It is also an opportunity to strengthen a characteristic of its network of public terminals which allows it to advantageously stand out from its competitors, especially American ones: its reliability.
“It’s a connection that will allow us to better supervise remotely what is not working with our terminals,” explains the vice-president of network operations for Flo, Martin Brière. “We can establish a remote diagnosis, which then allows us to send the right correction, or the right technician. »
Present in several large cities in Canada and the United States, Flo deals with some 250 suppliers and subcontractors to ensure the proper functioning of its terminals. These will gradually be connected to the network that Telus reserves for connected objects. And if an antenna from the Vancouver supplier is not nearby, the terminals can be connected to the nearest network, explains Martin Brière. “That’s what Telus’ eSIM technology allows us to do. »
In search of reliability
Among our neighbors to the South, where several companies from all walks of life share ownership of public networks, we see a very uneven level of reliability of the terminals that owners of an electric vehicle can use to refuel. According to the US Department of Energy, at the beginning of October, there were 4,000 public charging stations down in the United States. This represents 6% of all public terminals in the country.
At Uncle Sam, we also see a lack of professional technicians capable of carrying out the necessary repairs on these terminals. Equipment manufacturers such as the German giant Siemens have also announced, in recent weeks, investments of several tens of millions of dollars to accelerate the training of experts in the maintenance of terminals for electric vehicles.
With an operating level of 98%, the reliability of Flo’s public terminals is not as worrying as that of the entire North American public network. The manufacturer, whose head office is located in Quebec, believes that better connectivity will still improve the operation of its chargers and will avoid interruptions linked to connectivity problems, which should improve the experience for users.
“It’s part of our brand image,” says Martin Brière. “Our terminals are reliable and, when there is a breakdown, we can also react very quickly. Above all, we can ensure a high level of reliability as our network of terminals grows. »
This is an important detail for Flo, who, this summer, installed her 100,000e charging station, and which hopes to continue to grow throughout the continent. The Quebec company is currently the fifth operator of public terminals in North America. With the construction of a new factory in Michigan, it hopes to increase the number of terminals in service to 250,000 by 2028.
“If we want the electric vehicle market to reach its targets, this is what we must do,” says Martin Brière. “Buyers must be assured that they will have access to reliable charging infrastructure. »