Question 1

What utilization rate signals it's time to add another charger at an existing site?

Accepted Answer

There's no single global number — it depends on charger type and venue — but a useful rule of thumb combines two signals: sustained peak-hour utilization above roughly 70% (in line with dense urban fast-charging sites per the IEA's Global EV Outlook 2026), plus a turnaway rate above 10–15% of sessions. Either alone is worth watching; both together is a clear expansion trigger.

Question 2

How is data-driven site selection different from the initial site-selection process?

Accepted Answer

Initial site selection works from proxies — traffic counts, EV registration density, origin-destination patterns — because no charger exists yet to measure directly. Data-driven site selection replaces those proxies with a live site's own utilization, dwell-time and turnaway data once it's operating, and uses that real profile to rank and plan the next site rather than repeat the original assumptions.

Question 3

How much data do you need before trusting a dwell-time or utilization signal?

Accepted Answer

A minimum of 60–90 days of live sessions is usually enough to separate a real pattern from launch-week noise, covering weekday and weekend behavior at least eight times over. Seasonal venues (holiday retail, tourist routes) need a full seasonal cycle before a trend should drive an expansion decision.

Question 4

Should turnaways or utilization percentage be the primary expansion trigger?

Accepted Answer

Turnaways. Utilization percentage depends on how the average is calculated and can mask peak-hour saturation entirely. A turnaway — a driver who found every stall occupied and left — is unambiguous lost demand, and a rising turnaway count is the more reliable trigger, with utilization heatmaps used to explain why and where to add capacity.

Question 5

Can this same data also tell you when to exit an underperforming site?

Accepted Answer

Yes — this is the least comfortable but most useful output. Flat, low utilization sustained for 12+ months, after ruling out fixable causes like pricing or app visibility, signals to stop planning a second site in that corridor and reconsider the existing one, rather than assume the data will eventually turn around.

ev charging network expansion

EV Charging Data-Driven Site Selection: What Utilization Data Reveals About Your Next Site