Seems like a good idea at this time. We decided to ship an all-electric Volvo to Hawaii for use during an extended stay, and why not? We loved the silky sound when it accelerated and the fact that we never had to go to a service station or repair shop. We didn’t have a charger in the apartment we were renting, but we assumed we could find fast chargers like the ones we saw at Target at home.
It didn’t take long to discover the grim truth of public fees in Hawaii. We have found ourselves in what the electric vehicle community considers a “charge desert.” What should have been a chore was instead a frustrating expedition in search of a charger that wasn’t already occupied or inoperable.
My search for answers confirmed that my experience was not unique. In fact, there are fewer public charging stations in Hawaii than in almost any other state. Unlike the rest of the country, drivers in Hawaii rely on one provider for nearly all publicly available fast chargers: Hawaiian Electric Co.
The problem is that the equipment chosen by HECO has a poor performance record where it has been installed and, to make matters worse, it is combined with an inadequate digital network that often renders the chargers inoperable. HECO’s announced plans offer little hope of improving this dismal picture.
For me, the award-winning experience on the Frustration Tour was the day I wandered into Waikiki with my battery low. I had several apps on my phone and in my car that directed me to public chargers, and the only apps available were what are known as Level 2 chargers, which could take about eight hours to restore my car’s battery.
I found the closest available charging station at the top of the International Market Place garage area. I was familiar with the ChargePoint equipment because I’d used it on the mainland, but couldn’t get it to work. Another driver who saw my frustration showed me that a hack was only needed in Hawaii to start charging. He showed me how to push the button on the plug back up, a step not shown in any manual I’d seen before. When I returned to retrieve our car, I had to pay over $40 for parking (even with validation) plus $16 for the same fee.
From that point on, I limited my search to DC fast chargers that charge quickly in just over an hour. Private companies like Electrify America and EVGO provide extensive DCFC networks in many parts of the mainland, but aside from a few Electrify America stations on Oahu, HECO is the only game in town for drivers looking for a public fast charger. HECO currently offers only 25 fast charging stations in the state, 17 of which are in Ohio.
The mainstay of HECO’s fleet of DC fast chargers is the Efacec QC45, manufactured by the Portugal-based company. In reports to the Public Utilities Commission, HECO reported persistent problems obtaining replacement parts when its Efacec units broke down. This delay caused the fast charging unit at the Waikiki Kapahulu Public Library to be inoperable for approximately five months.
Adding to the frustration is that many HECO units lack the CHAdeMO plug necessary to charge cars like the Nissan Leaf. The company attributes the missing plugs to “repeated misuse or vandalism.”
But Efacec units seem to have a questionable reliability record. For example, in 2023, an enterprising citizen submitted a report to the Maryland Legislature summarizing a survey he had conducted of public charging stations operated by Baltimore Gas and Electric Company. When he tested the same Efacec units used by HECO, he found that less than half of them were fully operational, a far worse record than any other manufacturer.
Complicating the picture is the fact that HECO’s chargers are only part of the reliability equation. The devices need a system in which the driver pays for the electricity delivered to the car. HECO contracted with two different companies, Shell Recharge and OpConnect, to provide the network and software that manages billing for each session. This requires the driver to set up an account with the network company, and the system then invoices the driver’s account for the charging session.
If the connection is lost and the charger cannot connect to the driver’s account, the charger will refuse to deliver power. As a result, any malfunction may be caused by the physical charger, which is the responsibility of HECO, or a network fault, which is the responsibility of Shell Recharge or OpConnect.
In fact, HECO reported that due to grid outages, “most of the company’s chargers” became inoperable from late April to early May 2023. For drivers who relied on HECO chargers, the oasis in the desert dried up.
Frustrated drivers
In my experience, HECO chargers randomly fail to connect to the Shell Recharge network. When I called Shell’s helpline, the operators frequently complained that chargers in Hawaii were having trouble connecting to their network. The number for the HECO station on Ward Avenue, the most widely used station on Oahu, “was indelibly etched into my mind,” one operator told me.
Other frustrated drivers suggested I get a Shell RFID recharge card, which connects directly to the charger. I ordered my card in March and when I called Shell in April, they were out of cards but they said my card was on its way from Canada. It still hasn’t arrived.
A Shell Recharge employee blamed the network problems on HECO, claiming the company’s equipment was substandard. It’s frustrating to face finger-pointing, but there may be something behind the complaint. According to the technical specifications of the Efacec QC45, it communicates with the web via a 3G router, two generations behind the current cellular network.
HECO claims to address the inadequacy of the current public charging network on two different fronts. In 2021, the company petitioned the Public Utility Commission for approval to install 150 single-port fast chargers and 150 dual-port Level 2 chargers. HECO acknowledges that even if approved, the additional chargers provide only 28% of charging ports Express and 10% of Tier 2 ports needed to support the state’s charging needs by 2030.
Furthermore, the petition anticipates the first five chargers will be installed in the year following PUC approval. That application is still pending two and a half years after it was submitted, leaving HECO’s expected expansion already a year and a half behind schedule.
Just as frustrating as HECO’s discussion of its reliability record is. Its application to expand its grid has assured the PUC that “Hawaiian Electric can provide long-term reliability.” The company’s discussion of its reliability record focused on a survey of third parties that have hosted its chargers.
Featured in the app are survey results from drivers who actually use – or have tried to use – HECO fast chargers. There, in the fine print, HECO admitted that 82% of drivers surveyed who used a Hawaiian Electric public charger “indicated that they had arrived at a charging station to find it malfunctioning,” while 56% indicated that this had “occasionally” or ” always “.”
The surveys included comments such as: “We don’t travel because regular charging takes a long time and fast charging stations are not available.” “Our batteries have almost died several times and it’s almost impossible to find a charger that works,” another driver complained.
HECO is also replacing what it accurately refers to as “end-of-life and unreliable stations.” I started replacing the Efacec chargers with Tritium RTM chargers. It has already installed one of these fast chargers at a 7-Eleven store in Hawaii Kai. It has a satisfaction score of 6.9 from PlugShare. This good, but not great, result contrasts with the poor 1.0 score for the Efacec chargers at HECO’s Ward Avenue location.
But tritium won’t lead Hawaiian electric car drivers out of the desert anytime soon. Last month, the Australia-based company declared itself insolvent, and its lenders appointed a receiver to take control of the tritium assets while it searches for a buyer. This key element of HECO’s plans to expand its network and replace old, unreliable stations is now in serious doubt.
Increasing request
The problematic availability of reliable public fees will be an issue of increasing importance for the state. The number of electric vehicles in the state rose by 31% in 2023, and accounted for 16% of new purchases. Only California and the District of Columbia have more electric vehicles per capita, but ironically Hawaii ranks second from last in the number of fast chargers per vehicle.
Many EV owners can navigate the public charging desert. I’ve found the newly repaired HECO charger at the Waikiki Kapahulu Public Library to be reliable since it came back online. The charger now uses the OpConnect network and there were no connectivity issues that I experienced with Shell Recharge. However, HECO survey results indicated that drivers were largely dissatisfied with chargers that use OpConnect, providing little confidence that this would provide a permanent solution to charging hassles.
HECO reports that 81% of EV drivers live in a single-family home and have access to convenient charging in their driveway. However, this is not a solution for everyone; 24% of all drivers surveyed reported having used a HECO fast charger at least once. Of these, 34% use chargers at least weekly, and 11% cite not having a charger at home as a reason for using HECO chargers.
Hawaii will have to expand its public charging network if it plans to make electric vehicles a practical option for the general public. If having a home charger is the only convenient way to recharge, electric vehicles are doomed to be a niche product unavailable to residents in multifamily environments.
While a home charger may be sufficient in greater Honolulu, it’s unrealistic for people who have to travel distances like the Big Island, Maui, or the North Shore of Oahu. To overcome the “range anxiety” that keeps a potential buyer from purchasing an electric vehicle, drivers need to know that fast, reliable charging options are readily available.
Hawaii ranks second from last in number of fast chargers per vehicle.
In fact, taking the factors into account, HECO projects that Hawaii will need an additional 528 public chargers by 2030 to meet projected demand.
Hawaii is by no means the only state that has struggled to build a reliable charging network for electric vehicles. However, the disconnect between Hawaii’s consumers’ eagerness to embrace electric vehicles and the state’s inadequate public charging network is a clear signal that we’re on the wrong track.
HECO acknowledges that the proposed expansion is just a drop in the bucket; The state will need to look to other providers to meet the need. Even then, the PUC has yet to take any action on HECO’s petition to expand its network that has been pending since 2021.
Just as importantly, the PUC needs to consider the experience of those drivers who have to scour the paltry public charging options available in Hawaii. HECO should explain how it chooses its charging equipment and network providers, and whether there are more reliable options on the market.
I’m sure there are many EV drivers who have had a positive experience with their purchase, but on some level, their solution to the charging dilemma depends on finding some sort of workaround.
The fact that the number of electric cars is increasing is encouraging but worrying at the same time. The higher the demand, the greater the burden on the already insufficient network.
Would I recommend an electric car to someone in Hawaii? The answer is clearly: “Be careful, it’s desert out there.”
