In this episode of Field Frequency, host Jason Cortes sits down with Jed Routh, VP of Markets and Products at Kempower North America, to explore what makes a DC fast charger last—and why so many don’t.

Jed shares his personal journey from Thomas Built Buses and Duke Energy into the EV space, offering a front-row perspective on how Kempower is translating its European success into the North American market.

They cover:

• Kempower’s modular DC architecture and why “more plugs” often beats “more power”
• Lessons learned from Europe’s mature EV landscape and how they apply in the U.S.
• Designing for uptime and serviceability—redundancy, swappable modules, and intelligent load sharing
• The realities of subsidies and funding programs like NEVI—when they help and when they hinder
• Customer experience from every angle: CPOs, site hosts, utilities, and EV drivers
• Why the fleet market may be the ultimate growth driver for DC fast charging in North America

It’s a candid look at reliability, design philosophy, and the operational challenges that outsiders often underestimate.