Most fleet electrification planning focuses on vehicles, funding, and power capacity. Far less attention goes to what happens after the chargers are energized, which is where reliability is actually won or lost.
To capture what that looks like in practice, we sat down with Michael Fontanilla, Vice President of Field Services at Camber. Michael has spent over 15 years in the field installing, commissioning, and repairing EV chargers. He has maintained charging sites along the West Coast highway corridor in Oregon and Washington, trained the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power’s electromechanical team to repair charging equipment, and today supports Camber’s pantograph deployments for transit agencies across the country. His perspective comes from the field: the commissioning walkthroughs, site visits, and service calls where small oversights turn into missed charges.
This article shares the lessons from that conversation. Our goal is simple: help fleet operators who are preparing to deploy chargers avoid the reliability problems that are easiest to prevent now and more expensive to fix later.
1. Standardize critical wiring before it reaches the site
Every field termination adds variability. Specialty cables and connectors demand the right parts, tools, procedures, and technician skill, and those conditions are not always consistent from one installation site to the next.
Michael’s recommendation is to use prewired, pre-terminated cable assemblies wherever possible. Instead of asking site crews to source, crimp, and wire specialty components in the field, provide kits that only need to be routed and connected. This removes common failure points such as incorrect cable selection and improper crimping, and it reduces repeat commissioning visits.
The broader principle: move complexity upstream into controlled processes. Standardization is not just a convenience. It is a reliability strategy.
2. Commission comprehensively, or expect expensive rework
Commissioning is not the time to accept “good enough.” Incomplete testing, skipped steps, incorrect terminations, or misread wiring diagrams can produce a system that works on day one and creates recurring field problems for months afterward.
The risk grows when several vendors and contractors share the work. In pantograph deployments, for example, the charging equipment, pantograph equipment, specialty cables, and installation scope may be split across multiple parties. When ownership is unclear, contractors can procure the wrong cables, use improper tools, or terminate connections incorrectly. The result is repeat site visits and, in some cases, costly equipment damage.
Michael has seen this firsthand. On one pantograph site, he had to open every connection, pull the cables, and re-crimp them by hand to get the system working. An incorrectly wired connection had already damaged an actuator component can cost up to $16,000 to replace.
“Sometimes they skip some parts of the commissioning just to make it work. It’s not really comprehensive, and it gives a lot of problems.”
–Michael Fontanilla, VP of Field Services, Camber
Practical takeaway: Use a single commissioning checklist with documented sign-off for cable specifications, termination quality, communications testing, safety checks, and end-to-end charging validation with an actual vehicle. A contractor’s assurance that the system “turns on” is not the same as a validated charge.
3. Plan for communications and human factors, especially with pantographs
Pantograph charging adds another layer of operational complexity. Authorization and vehicle-to-charger coordination can depend on Wi-Fi and, in some cases, RFID. Signal quality, cable constraints, equipment placement, and vehicle alignment all affect whether a charging session starts reliably.
RFID helps ensure the correct vehicle is authorized in closely spaced charging lanes, but its operating tolerance is narrow. In Michael’s field testing, the Wi-Fi authorization signal covers a window roughly 3 to 4 feet wide, while RFID narrows to about 1 foot. The bus has to stop in almost exactly the right spot. Drivers need clear procedures for:
- Positioning the vehicle correctly in the bay.
- Confirming the pantograph has engaged before walking away, and has fully retracted before pulling out.
- Visually verifying charger status before leaving the vehicle.
Camber’s deployment at CapMetro offers a good model. Drivers align the bus to painted guide lines, step out to confirm the pantograph is down on the rails, and check again that it has fully retracted before pulling away. Without that routine, a bus can drive off with the pantograph still engaged and damage the equipment.
Deploying plug-in depot chargers instead? The lesson still applies. Test connectivity at the actual charger locations during design, and write driver procedures before the first vehicle arrives, not after the first missed charge.
4. Make cable and connector inspections routine
Cables, handles, connector pins, and vehicle inlets are among the most exposed parts of any charging system. They are also easy to overlook until damage causes a fault. National lab researchers studying charging reliability list broken parts and incompatible charger ports among the recurring causes of failed charging sessions.[1]
Michael sees the same pattern in the field. Repeated cable drops damage handles and ports. Charging cables are typically drop-tested from 4 feet, yet Michael has seen brittle handles break on a single drop. Brittle components crack and allow water intrusion. In severe cases, connector wear or compatibility issues can contribute to arcing and vehicle damage.
Build a simple inspection routine:
- Check connectors and pins for debris, discoloration, soot, or signs of heat.
- Inspect handles and connector housings for cracks, especially after drops or impacts.
- Store cables so they are not dragged, run over, or left on the ground.
- Train drivers and site staff to report damage immediately rather than keep using a compromised connector.
5. Run charging as a 24/7 operation, not a repair queue
SoPublic charging maintenance is often reactive: a unit fails, then a technician is dispatched. That model is risky for fleets, where chargers may be in near-constant use and every outage directly reduces vehicle availability.
A fleet reliability program combines remote monitoring, proactive site visits, and routine inspections, even when no fault has been reported. The objective is to catch degradation before it becomes a missed charge or a stranded vehicle.
“In public charging, it’s more of a reactive kind of repair. When there’s a problem, they come and fix it. For fleets, you cannot do that. Even if there’s no problem, you have to be on site. You have to monitor the chargers and make sure they all work.”
– Michael Fontanilla, VP of Field Services, Camber
Before you deploy: five questions to ask your charging partner
- Who owns commissioning end to end, and what does the sign-off checklist include?
- Which cable assemblies arrive pre-terminated, and which require field termination?
- How will chargers be monitored remotely, and what triggers a site visit before a failure occurs?
- What is the inspection schedule, and who trains our drivers and site staff?
- How is uptime defined, measured, and reported to us?
The bottom line
Reliable fleet charging takes more than installing hardware and responding to alarms. The strongest programs prevent failure through standardized installation, disciplined commissioning, clear operating procedures, trained people, and proactive maintenance.
For fleets, charging infrastructure is mission-critical infrastructure. Treating it that way from day one is how operators protect uptime, keep vehicles ready, and build the confidence to scale electrification.
Camber supplies, installs, and manages fleet charging infrastructure for transit agencies, school districts, universities, and commercial and port fleets.
Sources
- U.S. Joint Office of Energy and Transportation, “ChargeX Consortium Report Aims to Improve the American EV Road Trip Experience,” December 14, 2023. The ChargeX Consortium is led by Argonne National Laboratory, Idaho National Laboratory, and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory. driveelectric.gov
