The Californer - Francis Energy Boosts Charging Success and Cuts Support Costs with ChargeMate

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BAY AREA, Calif. - Californer -- Problem: First-time EV drivers face questions about how to charge

Francis Energy, a leading EV charging network, sought a solution to tackle some common challenges found across public charging today:

Guidance for new EV drivers learning to charge
Rising driver support call volume, as the customer base grows, related to driver education
Questions with how to charge as more EV drivers join the Francis Energy network

Each failed attempt to charge can impact the driver experience resulting in customer support intervention. Francis Energy sought a scalable solution to help more drivers successfully initiate a charge session – without adding Customer Support headcount or increasing O&M costs.

Solution: Francis Energy & ChargeMate automate support & issue resolution

Francis Energy partnered with ChargeMate to pilot an AI-powered driver support assistant across 26 public fast charging stations. Drivers accessed the AI assistant by scanning QR codes onsite, instantly connecting to the assistant trained to resolve EV charging issues in real-time.

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Key capabilities:

Troubleshoot driver issues at the charging station
Resolve payment and activation questions
Capture damage reports and automate work orders when necessary
Guide first-time drivers through charging on a new network
Escalate to live Support agents when needed

The pilot launched in just one week with no hardware changes or complex integrations required. ChargeMate's AI integrated with Francis Energy's Operations team, delivering immediate value with minimal lift.

Pilot Outcomes: Higher charge success rates & actionable results

The pilot delivered measurable operational improvements:

Over 95% of driver questions were resolved without escalating to a live human agent
60% of EV drivers completed their charge after initially encountering an issue and using the AI assistant
Hardware-specific insights into usage and performance, which will help drive future operational efficiencies

"Francis Energy is upleveling the EV driver experience, lowering operating costs, and optimizing charge success rates with ChargeMate. We've also been able to make more data-driven decisions to better serve our customers with additional insights into the ease of use and overall customer experience of chargers across our network."
— Andrew O'Donnell, VP Network Operations, Francis Energy

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Why It Matters for EV Charging Providers

Francis Energy's pilot shows that a dedicated AI solution can:

Increase charging success rates by resolving issues in real-time
Reduce live agent escalations and unnecessary service calls
Lower cost per resolved issue without adding support staff
Provide actionable insights to improve charger performance

ChargeMate partners with operations teams to optimize driver engagement, signage, and awareness.

Integrations with backend systems (CPMS, CRM, ticketing systems) are available to automate escalation workflows and reporting. Operators retain ownership of data and insights generated through ChargeMate with access to customized reports and an analytics dashboard.

https://www.chargemate.ai