EV charging operators are placing greater focus on network reliability and charger utilisation, according to a new report from Driivz.The 2026 State of EV Charging Network Operators Report is based on responses from 300 senior EV charging professionals in North America and Europe. Driivz said the findings point to a shift toward what it calls “intelligent profitability,” with operators prioritising uptime and efficiency rather than only expanding charging infrastructure.Respondents came from companies in North America and Europe, including the US, Canada, Germany, France, the Netherlands, the UK, and Norway. The survey included senior decision-makers across areas such as IT, operations, product, business development, strategy, e-mobility, and roaming.Reliability overtakes energy constraintsCharger reliability and stability were cited by 59% of operators as the industry’s top challenge. Driivz said this is the first time reliability has overtaken energy constraints in the report’s history.Site energy constraints remain another major issue, cited by 48% of respondents. The report said energy constraints were the top challenge in last year’s survey, but have now been overtaken by charger reliability and stability.Increased charger utilisation was ranked by 59% of respondents as the top profitability driver. Separately, 47% said 24/7 network availability was a priority for improving charging experiences in 2026.Network uptime and reliability were also cited by 44% of respondents as a factor expected to drive profitability over the next 12 months. The report said operators need reliable uptime to support higher utilisation.Predictive maintenance moves into focusPredictive maintenance is one of the main areas where operators expect AI to support network operations. The report found that 69% of operators ranked predictive maintenance as a top AI use case for operational improvement.Anomaly detection ranked slightly higher, at 72%, while pricing optimisation was cited by 70% of operators. Other AI use cases covered in the report include demand charge reduction and network planning.The report links predictive maintenance to operational data from connected chargers and supporting energy systems. Operators use this data to detect faults and diagnose equipment issues remotely. The same data is used to identify abnormal performance before chargers go offline.Maintenance is also part of operators’ cost-reduction plans. The report found that 52% of respondents plan to improve network monitoring and automation in 2026, while another 52% plan to improve maintenance efficiency.Energy management is also part of operators’ cost-control plans. The report found that 60% of respondents plan to use smart energy procurement and load management to reduce costs in 2026.Driivz CEO Shiri Levi-Laor said the EV charging industry is moving from deployment toward operational intelligence. She said reliability and utilisation are becoming central to network operations, alongside driver experience and data quality.Data quality remains a barrierThe report also identified barriers to wider AI use. Insufficient data quality or availability was cited by 63% of respondents, followed by integration complexity with existing systems and vendors at 62%. Cost or unclear ROI was cited by 55%.Reliability concerns were more pronounced among larger networks. Among these operators, 73% identified uptime and stability as a top challenge.Availability led planned investments in driver experience. Driivz found that 47% of operators plan to invest in 24/7 network stability and availability in 2026. Other priorities include seamless authentication at 43%, flexible payment options at 37%, and the number of fast chargers at 32%.Charger availability was the top planned investment area for improving the charging experience, followed by authentication and payment flexibility.Cybersecurity readiness reviewedThe report covered cybersecurity readiness among network operators. It found that 64% described their cybersecurity readiness as robust or very robust.However, Driivz said some operators still lag in areas such as fraud detection, 24/7 threat monitoring, encryption controls, and vulnerability scanning. The report listed these areas alongside other security measures used by charging network operators.Driivz said it processes more than four billion data points across 100 terabytes of global charging data, including operational information from charging networks.(Photo by CHUTTERSNAP)See also: IoT scaling challenges slow deployments at enterprise scaleWant to learn more about IoT from industry leaders? Check out IoT Tech Expo taking place in Amsterdam, California, and London. The comprehensive event is part of TechEx and is co-located with other leading technology events, click here for more information.Internet of Things News is powered by TechForge Media. Explore other upcoming enterprise technology events and webinars here.