Camber Ties Service Fees to EV Charger Uptime, De-risking Fleet Costs

SAN FRANCISCO, CA – April 28, 2026 – In a move that directly confronts the commercial electric vehicle industry's most persistent challenge—charger reliability—infrastructure provider Camber today launched Camber Complete™, a new service model that ties its monthly fees directly to performance. For fleet operators, the premise is simple: if their chargers don't work, they don't pay.

The announcement introduces a performance-gated payment structure where commercial fleets only pay a monthly service fee if their DC fast chargers meet a minimum verified uptime threshold. If the chargers fail to perform, the service fee for that month is automatically waived, shifting the financial risk of downtime from the customer to the service provider.

Addressing the Achilles' Heel of EV Fleets: Reliability

The transition to electric vehicles represents a monumental shift for commercial fleets, promising lower fuel costs and reduced emissions. However, this transition hinges on a critical, and often fragile, component: charging infrastructure. Charger reliability has emerged as a significant operational bottleneck, capable of derailing schedules, idling expensive assets, and eroding the financial benefits of electrification.

Industry data paints a concerning picture of the current landscape. Independent studies have revealed stark discrepancies between advertised and actual performance. One field study in the San Francisco Bay Area found that only 72.5% of public fast chargers were fully functional at any given time. While federal programs like the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) program mandate a 97% uptime for funded projects, this still allows for nearly 11 days of potential downtime per year—a margin that is often untenable for commercial fleets with demanding, 24/7 operational cycles.

For a transit agency, school district, or logistics company, a non-functional charger isn't an inconvenience; it's a direct hit to the bottom line. It means a bus may miss its route, a delivery truck sits idle in the depot, and intricate schedules are thrown into chaos. These disruptions carry costs far exceeding the price of a charging session, creating a significant barrier to confident, large-scale EV adoption.

A New Financial Model: Pay-for-Performance Charging

Camber aims to solve this by fundamentally altering the service agreement. Under the Camber Complete model, customers make an upfront capital investment in the DC fast charging hardware and its installation. The subsequent ongoing monthly service fee—which covers critical services like network operations monitoring, remote diagnostics, software updates, and preventative maintenance—is entirely contingent on performance.

The company is guaranteeing 98% uptime through committed service level agreements (SLAs). In any month where a customer's chargers fall below this threshold, the service fee is automatically reduced to zero. This automated waiver system stands in sharp contrast to more common credit-based models, which often require customers to meticulously track downtime, submit claims, and wait for reimbursement.

"Fleet operators make a real capital investment when they electrify," said Brendan Harney, CEO at Camber, in the company's press release. "They buy the hardware. They pay for the installation. The least we can do is make sure our ongoing fee reflects whether we're actually holding up our end of the bargain. If their chargers aren't performing, they shouldn't be paying us a service fee, full stop."

Transparency is a cornerstone of the model. Uptime is measured continuously using telemetry data from the chargers, with real-time visibility available to customers through the Camber Core dashboard. This allows fleet managers to monitor performance by individual charger or by site, and at the end of each billing period, the service fee is calculated automatically based on this verified data.

Shifting the Market: Will Uptime Guarantees Become the New Standard?

By placing its own revenue on the line, Camber is issuing a challenge to the broader EV charging industry. While many competitors offer comprehensive turnkey solutions and maintenance packages, Camber's automatic, all-or-nothing approach to service fees is a significant differentiator. Some providers have begun offering uptime guarantees, but they are often structured as partial rebates or credits, lacking the direct financial accountability of a full fee waiver.

This performance-based model could catalyze a market-wide shift, pressuring other service providers to adopt similar guarantees to remain competitive. For procurement managers and fleet operators, the ability to write performance guarantees directly into service contracts de-risks what has been a volatile aspect of fleet electrification. It transforms charger uptime from a hopeful expectation into a contractual obligation, aligning the incentives of the service provider with the operational needs of the fleet.

This new financial paradigm could accelerate EV adoption by boosting investor and operator confidence. Knowing that the ongoing costs of charging infrastructure are tied to tangible performance makes the total cost of ownership more predictable and defensible, strengthening the business case for transitioning away from internal combustion engines.

The Foundation for the Guarantee: End-to-End Control

Camber's ability to offer such a robust guarantee is rooted in its end-to-end management of the charging ecosystem. The company's turnkey solution covers every stage, from initial site assessment and electrical infrastructure design to hardware installation and long-term maintenance. By managing and monitoring the complete environment—from the electrical panel to the vehicle connector—Camber can accurately diagnose the root cause of downtime events and dispatch its in-house technicians to resolve them quickly.

This comprehensive control allows the company to credibly stand behind a performance guarantee that providers managing only one piece of the puzzle, such as software or hardware alone, may struggle to offer. With a track record of deploying over 1,500 DC fast-charging ports across the United States and Canada for transit, municipal, and commercial clients, the company has built a deep reservoir of operational experience.

Camber Complete is available now for new fleet charging projects. The company will also be discussing the new service model with fleet operators at the upcoming ACT Expo on May 4, 2026.