Description

In this episode of Field Frequency, host Jason Cortes sits down with Benoit Lacroix, CEO of Relion, to talk about what it really takes to keep EV chargers up and running at scale. Benoit shares how his early work electrifying heavy-duty trucks led him to build Relion as an “operating layer” behind the scenes of EV charging—connecting data, people, and process from fault to fix. The conversation explores interoperability challenges, the limitations of traditional CSMS tools, why reliability is really about orchestration, and how operators, fleets, and service providers can work together to turn complexity into flow.

Show Notes:

The future of EV charging isn’t just about hardware, it’s about orchestrating the people, data, and processes that keep chargers working. In this episode, Jason and Benoit explore the operational realities behind charger uptime and how Relion is building the layer that turns faults into fixes.

Inside the Episode:

• Benoit’s journey from electrifying heavy-duty trucks to founding Relion
• How early lessons in remote diagnostics and telematics shaped Relion’s approach
• Why EV charging reliability is a systems problem, not a hardware problem
• The limits of standards like OCPP and what it takes to stay hardware-agnostic
• Filling the gap between CSMS tools and real-world operations workflows
• How Relion unifies operators, manufacturers, and service providers around issue resolution
• Improving first-time fix rates through better triage, SOPs, and work order automation
• Where Relion drives the most impact: public charging, curbside L2, fleets, and managed services
• Why visibility, control, and faster time-to-resolution matter more than uptime promises
• The role of automation and AI in diagnostics—focused on quality over noise
• Relion’s growth trajectory across Canada and the U.S.