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As the electric vehicle (EV) revolution accelerates, fuel retailers and convenience stores are poised to become the next frontier for charging infrastructure. In this exclusive Q&A, Andy Bennett, CEO of Driivz, shares his insights on the challenges and opportunities facing the industry. With over 26 years of experience in energy software, Bennett discusses how Driivz’s intelligent EV charging and energy management platform is helping retailers overcome grid limitations, enhance customer experiences, and transform convenience stores into data-driven, EV-friendly destinations. From predictive analytics to seamless interoperability, Driivz is empowering the transition to a sustainable, electrified future.
As fuel retailers and convenience stores transition to include EV charging, what are the biggest challenges they face in terms of infrastructure readiness, and how is Driivz helping address these?
Fuel retailers are well-positioned to lead the transition to EV charging hubs, but they face obstacles as well. The biggest challenge we hear about from customers in North America, Europe, and Asia are about grid limitations. It’s no longer just about uptime and charger reliability. The real bottleneck is the availability of electricity and the ability to get new charging sites energized quickly, and this concern was echoed in our most recent industry survey, Nearly one in every two charge point operators cited grid constraints as their most pressing challenge this year.
By providing intelligent EV charging and energy management software, which allows operators to dynamically balance loads, avoid demand charges, and optimize their charging infrastructure even in constrained grid environments, convenience stores and fuel retailers can streamline EV charging offerings confidently.
How do you see the role of convenience stores evolving as they become part of the EV charging ecosystem, beyond just offering a place to charge?
We’re seeing a fundamental shift — EV charging is transforming the convenience store into a destination. Driivz’s partners, like Circle K and ON the RUN, have expanded their charging networks to take advantage of an increase in EV drivers and become the go-to destination that customers can rely on for a positive charging experience. By doing so, they have increased brand loyalty at their locations, bringing in repeat customers who shop while their vehicles charge. Convenience and retail destinations across Europe, Canada, as well as the U.S., have already proven that when EV charging is available, customers stay longer, spend more, and even buy more premium products.
What’s happening now is an integration of charging into a broader business model. It’s not just about plugging in. It’s about creating a retail experience around that dwell time, having discounts and deals in C-store for EV drivers and engaging with drivers through customer-facing mobile apps to continue to build a positive experience. Charging isn’t just infrastructure and plugs anymore, it’s just a layer of the driver’s potential retail experience as well.
Many EV drivers are concerned about charging time. What advancements in software or network management is Driivz working on to improve charger uptime and reduce wait times at these locations?
Driivz supports over 1,500 different charger types to ensure interoperability and compatibility with CPOs’ preferred hardware. From there, the Driivz software uses predictive analytics to monitor network health around the clock, along with self-healing algorithms to address charger issues remotely and reduce any downtime before it even happens. One of the biggest improvements Driivz is deploying to curb ‘charging anxiety’ to market is something we call “first-time-right” charging. Which essentially has Driivz software collecting data to ensure that the driver connecting to a charging site stayed and received the most optimal charge possible.
Driivz also offers CPOs branded, customer-facing mobile apps to provide drivers with real-time visibility on the availability of chargers at their charging station locations. This instills confidence in drivers, with the ability to easily find working chargers nearby. For CPOs, these apps provide the direct communication necessary on charger availability in the instance they face down chargers due to grid demands, maintenance, or other issues.
With multiple charging hardware vendors in the market, how does Driivz ensure interoperability and a seamless user experience across different sites and networks?
Driivz holds OCPP certification, enabling CPOs to monitor, control, and optimize charger operations across multiple sites from a single location. The Open Charge Point Protocol (OCPP) standardizes the charging experience for operators, manufacturers, and drivers, ensuring a smooth process for all. Consequently, OCPP-compliant EV charging and energy management platforms bolster consumer confidence, promote the adoption of electric vehicles, and contribute to long-term decarbonization efforts.
This means our customers can choose virtually any hardware provider and still deliver a seamless user experience.
We actively monitor the performance of each unit in the field and provide analytics like comparative site utilization, first-time-right rates, and charger-specific issue detection. We also enable customers to benchmark their sites anonymously against the 150,000+ chargers already on our platform, identifying weak points and optimizing performance regardless of brand or hardware types.
Looking ahead 5–10 years, how do you envision the ideal charging hub at a legacy fuel station, and what role will data and software play in that transformation?
In the next decade, the best fuel retailers will become data-centric energy and retail platforms. The ideal charging hub will be intelligent, modular, and optimizable in real time.
Driivz aims to be at the core of this evolution for C-stores and fuel retailers. We’re not just managing chargers, we’re powering a data ecosystem that helps C-stores choose the right site, set the right price, even stock the right products, and deliver an exceptional experience. As the industry scales from hundreds to tens of thousands of chargers per operator, data and the vital insights they can provide becomes the differentiator.
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