Start with the charging experience
An availability dashboard answers one question: is the charger reported as available? Site owners also need to know whether a driver can start a session, receive energy, and finish successfully.
The Joint Office’s January 2025 ChargeX playbook describes four customer-focused measures: charge start success, charge start time, charge end success, and session success. These give operators a more useful view of the charging experience alongside uptime.
Use incidents to explain the numbers
SureCharge recommends reviewing unsuccessful sessions alongside support contacts and work orders. Ask whether failures cluster around a particular port, payment method, vehicle, or time of day. Treat those patterns as leads for investigation, rather than proof of a cause.
Record the asset and connector, the event time, the symptoms, the actions taken, and the next responsible party. A repeating fault should remain visible even when a remote reset briefly restores service.
Give each problem an owner
The Department of Energy’s Alternative Fuels Data Center advises station owners to establish maintenance responsibility and include response time, repair time, and uptime requirements in maintenance contracts.
Put that into practice with a clear escalation path. Identify who reviews alerts, who contacts the network or manufacturer, who authorizes a field visit, and who updates the site owner. Define what each service commitment measures and when its clock begins.
Close the loop with evidence
SureCharge recommends agreeing on verification before closing a work order. A charger returning to an online state is one observation; a documented charging test provides additional evidence about the repaired function.
Qualified technicians should follow manufacturer procedures for inspection and testing. Keep the findings, repair record, and test outcome with the asset’s service history so the next technician starts with context.
Five questions for your next operations review
- Do we track successful sessions as well as reported availability?
- Which assets have repeated failures after a reset or repair?
- Does every open incident have an owner and a next action?
- Are response and restoration commitments clearly defined?
- What evidence do we require before a repair is marked complete?
Build the operating plan around your sites
For a fleet depot, readiness for the next departure matters. For a public site, ease of access and a successful charging experience matter. Choose reporting and escalation priorities that reflect how your chargers are used.
SureCharge coordinates monitoring, support, remote troubleshooting, preventive maintenance, and field repair through qualified service partners. Start with your asset list, current support arrangements, and recurring issues to define an O&M plan.