Why So Many EV Chargers in America Don't Work

Auto electrification needs public chargers, but one in five EV drivers in the US say they have been unable to charge at a public station.

A ChargePoint electric vehicle charging station in Louisville, Kentucky.

David R Baker

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In a nondescript office park in San Jose, California, ChargePoint Holdings Inc. runs a torture lab of sorts. It's here that the operator of the US's largest network of electric vehicle chargers subjects its products to extreme temperatures and rain, and puts them through simulated dust storms and earthquakes. Pulley systems tug on charging cords over and over, mimicking years of use, and a different device slams a steel ball against chargers to see if they’ll crack. Every year, the lab tests about 3,300 chargers, which then can't be deployed in the wild.

"You take this thing that's expensive, and you basically burn it up," said Pasquale Romano, ChargePoint's chief executive officer, as a row of machines nearby simulated plugging and unplugging the chargers’ connectors.