Three Insights to Build Successful Customer-Centric EV Charging Products

In the fast-evolving world of EV charging, the key to success is clear: start with the customer and execute flawlessly. In this article, I share some insights from other industries and fellow professionals, which have helped shape my perspective on how to build successful EV charging products -- both software and hardware alike. To me, it all boils down to these key points: The customer perspective should always come first; a great idea is just the beginning; the impact is only as good as the execution; and the real magic requires a rock-solid team, spearheaded by divas who are obsessed with details and continuously push the boundaries.

1. The customer's view should lead: Other views can add value

When building a product, particularly in a fast-paced space like EV charging, different stakeholders bring different perspectives. While valuable, this can sometimes create conflicting priorities. There are three major perspectives often vying for control:

• The financial perspective: tends to focus on financial outcomes, where priorities are typically growth, revenue, and profitability. While this is crucial for the company’s valuation, focusing solely on financials can lead to short-term decisions that sacrifice the long-term mission. Product features and pricing points may be set because they seem like quick wins, but they might not align with what the customer actually wants or is willing to pay for.
• The technical perspective: tends to focus on risk-proofing, gold-plating, and innovation, where priorities are robustness, safety, and sophistication. While technological rigor is crucial for solid performance, focusing solely on engineering may create very technically advanced products but sacrifice simplicity, intuitiveness, and ease-of-use. The result is an overwhelmed and confused customer, with more questions than answers.
• The customer perspective: focuses on understanding the user pain-points, needs, and wants, and it aligns the product development cycle with real-world demand.

In my view, the broader product team is usually the true custodian of the customer voice (think UX/UI, PM, QA, along with CS and even sales and marketing), and that voice should be the ultimate one to consider. Why? Simple: If the product doesn’t meet the customer’s needs, it won’t sell, making financial concerns irrelevant. And no matter how technically advanced the engineering is, if the customer doesn’t care about the features, it’s wasted effort. The product team brings everything back to the core: the customer.

This ingenious video by Ian Evans from tl;dv - AI Meeting Assistant drives the point home. When internal priorities and opinions take precedence over the customer's voice, chaos ensues. (Also ... check Ian's other videos, they are all spot-on and really funny).

DIGGING DEEPER: To really understand and address customer needs, all company employees should be customers, and all employees should speak to customers. This especially true for company executives, who are making the important strategic decisions. Regularly using or asking customers for feedback about the company's products, executives and employees can immerse themselves in the user experience, critique it, and understand how their EV charging products actually perform in the real-world. Imagine if Elon Musk commuted in a BMW, or Tim Cook took his phone calls from an Android, or Howard Schultz got his daily coffee from Dunkin Donuts? If that were the case, Tesla, Apple, and Starbucks wouldn't be the successful companies and brands we know today.

2. Ideas are not enough: Execution is everything

No one captures this better than Steve Jobs: "It’s a disease ... thinking that a really great idea is 90% of the work. And that if you just tell all these other people, ‘Here’s this great idea,’ then of course they can go make it happen. [...] The problem with that is that there’s just a tremendous amount of craftsmanship in between a great idea and a great product. [...] And every day, you discover something new that is a new problem or a new opportunity to fit these things together a little differently. And it’s that process that is the magic."

Great ideas don’t guarantee success. A great idea is just the starting point. What matters is how well it’s executed. It’s not enough to think you have a great product idea. The key is to execute it flawlessly, take it through every step, and ensure the end result resonates with the customer. A company can have the best idea in the world, but if the execution is poor, that idea is worthless. Execution is where the value is created, and it’s where great companies separate themselves from the mediocre ones.

In one famous Apple story, Jobs was deeply involved in perfecting the iPhone’s design, especially details like the scroll feature. Jobs pushed the team to refine the "rubber band" scrolling effect, focusing on how it felt when users scrolled through content. His attention to these seemingly small details emphasized his belief that such features significantly shaped the user experience. This obsessive focus on the interaction between product and user played a major role in the iPhone's success.

If we want EV charging hardware and software to have the same level of success that Apple products enjoy, we need our industry to obsess over the details. Yes the CCS cable is a great engineering masterpiece, but is it light enough? Flexible enough? Small enough? Yes roaming is exceptionally valuable, but is the mobile app feature to launch a roaming charging session intuitive enough? Streamlined enough? Yes V2H is a very powerful capability to have in an EV, but have we figured out how to exactly enable a smooth customer journey for it, and real customer value from it? (I argue, not yet).

3. Cherish the Divas: They shape high-performing teams

Now, to execute flawlessly, you need a top-tier product team. And here’s where it gets edgy: you want divas on your team, not knaves. As Eric Schmidt emphasized in a thought-provoking video, "divas" are described as highly talented individuals who can be demanding but bring exceptional creativity and skill to a team. Schmidt emphasizes that while they can be difficult to manage, divas' contributions are invaluable for driving innovation and excellence, particularly in competitive industries like tech. In contrast, knaves float around in the workplace, taking credit for others' work and not really adding any value.

We need to cherish the divas and limit the knaves in the EV charging industry. To meet the ambitious EV adoption goals of 2030 and beyond, we cannot afford to hire people who don't push the envelope. This means hiring people who challenge norms and question assumptions, but can still deliver. Schmidt’s philosophy reflects Google’s hiring process, where the focus wasn’t just on finding smart people, but on attracting those who could fundamentally shift the company’s trajectory.

Conclusion

In EV charging, the recipe for success boils down to customer focus, flawless execution, and an exceptional team. Prioritize what matters most — the people using the product — and bring together the right mix of talent to execute at the highest level of detail. Stay customer-driven, hire the best, use the product yourself, and aim for flawless delivery.

Easy, right?

Do you have an example or personal experience in the EV charging space that relates to any of these insights? Feel free to share in the comments section!

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