Benefits of EV Charging Stations for Business

The growth of EV (Electric Vehicle) sales has been startling in recent years, making a jump from 3 million cars in 2020 to over 10.2 million in 2022-23. The year 2021 saw a major leap when the sales nearly doubled to reach 6.75 million EVs. 

Needless to say, the global attempts to curtail the reliance on fuels and switch to sustainable modes of transportation have caused such a wave of EV adoption everywhere. 

As EVs are going to flood the roads of the USA too, building EV charging stations has become an exigency. The efforts put by EV companies as well as federal authorities for establishing EV charging stations have been inadequate. With only 138,100 charging outlets for plug-in electric vehicles (EVs), the USA needs 20 times more charging stations by 2030 considering the projected growth of vehicle usage.

While the shortfall is huge, businesses and startups can help bridge the gap by installing EV charging stations while increasing their customer footfall. While it could be challenging for businesses to install the EV chargers themselves, different private EV charging companies appeared on the scene. They contributed to the establishment of the EV charging infrastructure in different business facilities. At the same time, these companies enjoyed a substantial  share of profits out of their EV charging operations.

This operational model for the expansion of the EV charging infrastructure will undeniably cater to the needs of a growing number of EVs across the U.S. But, aside from that, it brings explicit benefits for businesses that want to increase their profitable income and stride ahead of their competitors by doing something out of the box! 

Installing an EV charging station will show their support towards cleaner energy and urge to build a sustainable planet, giving them a competitive edge in the market. 

If you want to support the drive for EV charging infrastructure expansion by leasing your business space for a charging station, this comprehensive blog is a must-read. It discusses the benefits of EV charging stations for businesses and how it can be a rewarding experience for you. 

Take a read! 

How EV Charging Stations Transformed Into a Brilliant Business Opportunity?

The rapid transition to electric vehicles will inevitably result in a clean environment but more importantly, save the costs of fuel. While many people are considering taking EVs on the road because they are truly environmentally conscious, many started using them as it significantly reduces their expenses on fuel energy.

While EV sales are seeing a major upsurge due to this, the shortfall in the number of EV charging units across the states raised concerns for EV manufacturers as well as the government. In an attempt to curb the shortfall in the number of charging stations, the US government intervened and came up with policies to facilitate the installation of charging stations across the states.

A major step by the government to promote the adoption of EVs and encourage the installation of charging stations was incentivizing private companies and businesses. It offered assistance in the form of tax incentives, grants, and loans to businesses for investing in an EV charging station. 

In addition, government authorities streamlined the process of acquiring permission for EV charging station installation. It simply made it easier for business shops, restaurants, retail outlets, malls, etc., to set up a station at their facility. 

Intervention and support of the government isn’t alone the factor that pushed forth the EV charging expansion. Private sector participation has a pivotal role to play!

EV manufacturers, tech companies, and charging infrastructure companies are consistently investing to expand the EV charging landscape. With research and innovation, they are coming up with fast charging technologies and easy plug-and-charge interfaces for stations. 

On the whole, private sector companies are striving hard to reduce the charging time and ensure seamless public charging experiences for drivers. Major automobile players such as BMW, Kia, Honda, and Hyundai are uniting to contribute to the EV charging ecosystem. 

Furthermore, most of them offered turnkey solutions for the installation of an EV charging station effortlessly in one go, which compelled businesses to step in!  

So, the active involvement of government and prominent private companies in the EV charging scenario urged small businesses and startups to take part. From financial assistance to installation support, all these created massive opportunities for businesses to utilize their extra space and establish a charging station. 

10 Surefire Benefits of EV Charging Stations for Businesses

In the coming years, the U.S. is expected to see a dynamic shift towards EVs, pushing forth the electrification of transportation and curbing carbon footprints. As EVs continue to grow on the roads, the need for fast and accessible charging facilities has become the need of the hour. 

Thankfully, the collaboration of governments and private EV charging companies brought scope for businesses and private property owners to build charging stations. While businesses of all types can contribute to the development of EV car infrastructure due to this, it will simultaneously bring them a host of economical and sustainable benefits. 

The following section explains one by one the most noteworthy EV charging station benefits for businesses, prompting many entrepreneurs to establish a charging station at their commercial facility. 

Take a look!

1. Draw More Customers To Your Business

Electric vehicles dominate the future as the drive towards green energy and eco-friendly transportation kicks in. 

With more people driving EVs, the demand for fast-charging solutions at mainstream business shops, office buildings, and public facilities grew exponentially. People needed to charge their EVs while running errands, traveling to and from work, vacationing, or going faraway places. They expect charging stations to become ubiquitous just like gas stations, providing them with the convenience to drive their electric cars everywhere.

People expected to find charging facilities at shops and service centers that they visit frequently. Because, who doesn’t want to get their EVs charged while doing grocery shopping, eating out, or using a service? It means people would switch to another shop or service provider with the charging facility instead of coming to your business. 

Inevitably, that makes EV charging stations a must-have at homes and commercial places, including restaurants, shops, supermarkets, and hotels located in remote places! Businesses need to offer their customers the basic facility to charge their EVs after traveling a long distance or fully charge them before heading out to continue their journey. 

Charging stations are also a necessity at residential complexes and commercial buildings with shared office spaces to enable tenants and employees to charge their vehicles. 

However, there is a dire need to build them at common business stores to provide overnight charging facilities to customers and on-road vehicles. Business centers that are continuously investing in charging stations at present are:

• Retail shops
• Shopping malls
• Hotels
• Restaurants
• Takeaways
• Spa or salon
• Hospitals
• Health clinics
• Multi-office buildings

Having an EV charging station in your business space will work as a magnet for customers. As people are increasingly using EVs, they will need charging stations now and then while traveling.  

While they have to wait the entire time to get their vehicles charged up at a standalone charging station, a grocery shop or a takeaway restaurant equipped with a charging station will be a more convenient option. They can get their EVs simultaneously charged while buying groceries or meals, thereby saving them valuable time. 

Host an EV charging station at your restaurant will be a major factor in drawing customers to your place, perhaps more than before!

2. Provide a Customer-Centric Environment

With the installation of a charging station at your shop, you create a customer-centric environment. It has a significant positive impact on your customer experience and is one of the intangible benefits of installing EV charging stations for business. 

Who could have thought of enjoying his favorite burger while having his EV charged in the parking space? It turns their free time or breaks somewhat productive and consecutively saves the vehicle charging time. 

But, in particular, installing an EV charging station at your commercial place indicates that you care for the basic needs of your customers. It shows that you are considerate of the emergency needs of your customers, even if that is not related to your products or services. 

If your business shop or center has multiple charging points, you can even let your regular customers charge their EVs even if they aren’t going to purchase anything. It proves your genuine urge to offer the convenience of public charging to the commoners and contribute to a greener environment.
 
To enhance the overall experience of your customers, which also counts their EV charging experience, you might consider offering additional facilities alongside! Some of the extra facilities that will make your business shop appear customer-friendly are:

• Free Wi-Fi
• Free charging sessions up to a certain number
• Limited discounts only for EV drivers
• Loyalty points or paybacks for customers coming again

These perks will unquestionably work as the biggest incentives for people to charge at your business shop more than any other shop. So, fine-tuning customer experiences at your store will subsequently draw more customers to your business and give you more sales.

3. Be The First Preference Of Environmentally-Conscious Customers

As an added benefit, your store or service center will be the first preference of environmentally-conscious customers, regardless they own an EV or not. Installation of an EV charging station shows your proactive contribution to the electrification of the transport economy, which enhances your business’s image. 

While it stands as a testimony of your environmental commitment and reflects your sustainability efforts, it also serves as a marketing tool. 

Anyone visiting your store or just driving by will come to know about EV charging stations. They will naturally perceive it as a considerate step by your business to curb air pollution levels.    

If you own a large business such as a retail supermarket, hotel chain, or a multispecialty hospital, the installation of an EV charging station for hotel will add to your corporate sustainability goals. Environment-conscious customers are likely to come to your store in anticipation of supporting your goal and indirectly contributing to sustainability. 

As the current surge in EV sales is expected to double or triple in the United States, this leaves a substantial shortfall in EV charging infrastructure. So, when you install an EV charging station at your business facility, organization, or commercial service shop, it appears that you want to help bring down the gap. 

All in all, an EV charging facility in your business space is likely to enhance your company’s reputation if you actively talk about it or promote it through your marketing channels. It will make your business known to the masses and draw the special attention of environmentally-conscious consumers. 

Those consumers are also likely to be future owners of EVs. Hence, they might start coming to your shop more often to support your corporate sustainability efforts.

4. Enjoy The Footfall Advantage At Your Business Shop

One of the biggest benefits of installing EV charging stations for business is increased footfall!
Regardless of what products or services your business shop deals with, an EV charging station will result in more customer visits. With the incessant rise in EVs on the road, drivers will need convenient and easily accessible charging points to power their cars. 

So, what could be more appropriate for them than the local shops or storefronts for charging? Located across streets and near highway entry/exits, these are the most practical charging stops for cars. They can shop for some essentials or food while getting their EVs charged up. More importantly, they can charge their vehicles while going to, or coming back from work, visiting a local market, dropping their kids, and so on.  

Finding a random shop with an EV charging facility will be a boon for any EV driver on the road, who immediately needs a charging stop. While catering to exigency charging needs, you also make your business or services visible to a line of customers who wouldn’t have visited your shop otherwise. In other words, you get spontaneous visits from customers every day who are likely to turn into customers. 

Take this as an instance. 

A mother picked up her 2 kids from a preschool while her EV would soon run out of charge. By luck, when she comes across your shop, which is a confectionary corner on a main street with a spacious EV charging station. She considers halting there to charge her vehicle for a while. However, keeping the two little kids at ease during the charging time can be challenging. 

So, the mom thinks of buying some croissants or cookies for the kids to keep them indulged and distracted the whole time. The lady who passed the confectionary corner every other day but never thought of buying anything has now turned into a customer for her impromptu charging need. 

If she likes the products, she might keep halting there every alternative day for some delicious snacks and of course, charging her car! 

Summing it up, a considerable increase in footfall is one of the prime benefits of installing an EV charging station in your business space. While it compels your existing local customers to more frequently visit your shop to charge their EVs you will also get surprise visitors every day! This results in an assured rise in overall footfall at your shop, daily or weekly.  

5. Enjoy an Increase in the Dwell Time of Customers

One of the significant benefits of installing EV charging stations at businesses is the increased dwell time of customers. It is also said to be a positive after-effect of offering EV charging services at your business center. 

Charging an EV takes time, depending on the type of charger and vehicle model. On average, it takes anywhere between 30 minutes to 1 hour to charge a vehicle from 10% to 80% with a fast charger. Moreover, the time to charge a vehicle depends on the upcoming mileage and travel time needed by the driver. 

Needless to say, by offering the facility to charge their vehicles at your shop, you can increase the dwell time! In the meanwhile, when the vehicles get charged, the customers can stroll at your shop, talk to your sales executives, learn about your products/offers, and discover any product they have been eyeing for up sometime. 

Utilize their longer stay or dwell time at your shop to promote your new line of products and inform them about upcoming offers or seasonal offers. Who knows they might need that and buy it, providing you with some additional income! 

An EV charging station contributing to longer customer dwell times at your business shop will amplify your chances of sales and revenues. Even if they are your regular customers who often buy stuff from your store, the EV charging station gives you an additional scope to sell more to them with word-of-mouth promotion or targeted advertisements. 

There are several other ways you can engage better with the customers at your store and increase their dwell time, such as:

• Emails or message alerts regarding discounts on charging fees
• Offer an additional discount on products brought during charging sessions
• Huge discount or fee concession on the next one or two charging sessions
• Free charging sessions for referring other customers

Whatever strategies you pick, your business will benefit by drawing more customers and boosting sales of your products or services! 

6. Enhance Customer Experiences with Loyalty Programs 

If you are wondering what are the benefits of EV charging stations for businesses that come indirectly? It is the loyalty programs tied to your EV charging stations that foster repeat business. 

Leverage the advantage of an EV charging station installed at your business with impressive loyalty programs. While they will draw more customers to your shop, they will also result in more repeat customers. Make sure you strategize lucrative customer loyalty programs that are effective for the purpose. 
    
You might be thinking that the charging station is itself a major attraction that tempts customers to visit your store. But, how and what will make them come back for charging and not just for your actual product or service? 

Here are a few types of loyalty programs for an EV charging facility at a business store.

• Cross-selling opportunities: Offer freebies, a sample of a new product, or a win-win offer to customers who charge their vehicles a certain number of times.
• Incentivize larger purchases: Reward free charging session to every customer who purchases a certain value or quantity of products. 
• Exclusive access and recognition: Recognize the customers who more frequently charge their EVs and offer them special treatment, such as a free pass to your VIP events, birthday offers, or a personalized gift voucher for your shop. 
• Induce behavioral actions: Offering any kind of loyalty program leads to a sense of exclusivity in your customers, and may even refer your charging station and shop to their close friends and family to let them enjoy the same perks! Also, it develops a great fondness for your business, and they would like to try new products, provide good feedback, or share experiences with your business on their social profiles.

To put this great benefit of EV charging stations for business in simple words - realize ample income opportunities by introducing loyalty programs for your repeat customers and fostering their engagement. You acquire new customers, and retain them with loyalty programs while assuring revenue growth and success!

7. Real-world Success Stories of EV Charging Station

Equipping your business store with an EV charging station will bring several tangible and intangible benefits – from increased footfall and higher sales to more repeat customers and improved brand loyalty. 

If you aren’t sure whether to take the leap and install a charging station, take inspiration from these real-life case studies. 

• Walmart- One of the largest retail chains was perhaps the first one to embrace this opportunity of EV charging stations to control pollution and enhance their corporate social responsibility (CSR). It installed nearly easy plug-in and fast-charging EV charging stations at 280 outlets across the country. 
• Taco Bell- The multinational fast-food chain has its first superfast EV charging station in South San Francisco. It enabled the customers to get their vehicles charged enough in 20 minutes to drive up to 100 miles of range. It launched a program to install the charging station in its 300 outlets spread across California, Kansas, Missouri, and other states.
• Ikea- This giant furniture company, in partnership with a reliable EV charging infrastructure company, has launched 199 ultra-fast chargers across its outlets in 50 locations. With remarkable gains, in terms of footfall and brand loyalty, they plan to install about 500 chargers in the next few years. 

Apart from these, many other multinational chains and restaurants installed efficient EV charging stations for the convenience of their customers, such as Starbucks, Subway, Whole Foods, Kohl’s, and Longhorn Steakhouse. 

Small businesses too joined the race and have their single outlets equipped with advanced charging stations. Also, hotels are a must mention here. Many hotels in the USA installed a station to provide a stress-free experience to their tourists, which subsequently resulted in greater traffic and frequent visits. 

Moreover, all the businesses and retail chains also have their corporate reputation and brand image improved with such a sustainable move. That’s surely an intangible benefit, which again helped them to grow sales by becoming a conscious choice of many new customers. 

8. Better Returns With Strategic Placement of The Charging Station

The mounting demand for EV charging facilities and the collaborative support by government and private companies are compelling businesses of all types to install a station. 

While stations are becoming omnipresent in almost every state of the U.S., location is a pertinent factor in determining the income potential of a charging station! Of course, the charging stations more easily accessible or more proximate to roads, highways, and public places will get higher footfall every day than any remote station.

That’s why strategic placement of the EV charging station is essential for assured footfall and profitability! Businesses in urban areas and highways do not have to worry about the location convenience of their station to EV drivers. 

However, businesses located in hard-to-reach areas become apprehensive before installation. If that’s your case and you are not interested in situating your EV charging station somewhere else, decide on a profit-oriented revenue model to cover up the loss in customer footfall. 

While the location of an EV charging station matters a lot, here are a few things to consider if you are planning to set up a station at a new location. 

• Demography and charging behavior of the location – Must research whether the region has a greater number of EV owners or a tendency to own them in the future. While demography doesn’t exactly reveal the EV adoption rate, takes cues from other factors like more young and working population and higher literacy (which implies more environmental awareness in people.  
• Proximity to high-traffic regions- To ensure a consistent traffic flow daily, place your EV charger in proximity to highways, community centers, transportation corridors, municipalities, residential complexes, or shopping multiplexes.  
• En-route charging locations - Highly strategic locations that assure the greatest traffic flow and income potential of a charging station are en-route charging locations, which implies commuters’ routes, busy intersections of streets, interstate highways, or motorways. 
• Destination charging locations- Of course, these are the most profitable charging locations as people tend to visit there for a purpose and spend substantial time. They can utilize the time to charge their EVs, thereby giving you income. Common destination charging locations are restaurants and cafes, movie theaters, shopping malls, supermarkets, hospitals, gyms and sports facilities, arenas and stadiums, clubs, and recreation parks. 

9. Get Your Businesses Discovered on Maps

By establishing an EV charging station at your business facility, you can put your business name on various mobile Map applications and grow your brand’s visibility.

Several apps are being developed that let EV drivers discover charging stations at a given location and find routes to them. As a charging station owner, you too can add the location of your station with the business name and provide necessary information.  

In addition to this, users can also provide reviews about their charging experiences and suggest them to other drivers. This way, it directly boosts your brand visibility as people will come to know about your business or store while looking for an EV charging station. This will inevitably raise the potential customer base of your business, who may be locals or passersby.  

If fortunately, your EV charging station manages to get more positive reviews and feedback from users, you can draw more first-time chargers. Possibly, you can also turn them into customers by offering special deals, discounts, and free charging sessions. 

This one is a prime reason why small businesses are looking forward to installing an EV charging station today! Alongside making them more appealing to target customers with an equipped charging facility, it makes their business easily discoverable to EV drivers through Maps. This opens up avenues to acquire many new customers and grow their potential revenue earnings. 

10. Derive Additional Income from Multiple Sources

Government support and advancing EV charging technologies might be inducing businesses to install an EV charging station at their business. But, the biggest incentive pushing them to take such a step is the additional income opportunities. 

Although we are talking about it in the last, this perhaps falls under the most important benefits of EV charging stations for business! By opening up a charging station at your business facility, you create not one but multiple streams of revenue. 

• Setting up a charging fee – You can set up a particular fee structure and ask for a charging fee from every EV driver. You can set your fees based on electricity consumption, time (per hour rate), or both. Thus, the more EV drivers coming to charge at your business space, the better it is. To earn maximum revenue out of this fee-based operational model, promote your EV charging station by spreading the word about it on various social media channels.
• Increased footfall and new customers- The installation of an EV charging station creates a direct incentive for your customers with EVs to visit your store rather than any other store. They can charge their EVs while purchasing a product or service at your shop. But, more notably, you will plausibly get many new customers to your business who were just passing by and needed their vehicles to charge.When they discover your products or services while charging their EVs, they may end up spending on something. So, the installation of a charging station at your business space will drive the footfall of new and old customers at your business, generating more revenue for your business!   
• Additional revenue earned by increased consumer spending- The charging process takes some time. The drivers, who have their vehicles plugged in at the station may prefer to spend time at your shop, looking and enquiring about your products. Who knows? They might end up purchasing a product or service if they like them. Also, the regular customers who need to get their EVs charged at your store spend more time than usual. During that time, they might discover a new product or service they have been eyeing for a long time. You can also utilize their dwell time to inform them about your offers, seasonal discounts, loyalty coupons, etc., which will directly increase consumer spending.  
• Lease fee – This is an assured additional income if you go for a fully-funded EV charging station! Under this model, an advanced EV charging company takes the responsibility to provide all charging equipment and install it at your business facility. It is an effective model, ensuring long-term benefits for businesses. While you have to make zero investment for installing the station, you earn a fixed monthly rental from the EV charging company for leasing out your commercial space. 
• Advertisement banners – You will scope to host ad banners and marketing posts at the signage, EV charging stands, security railings, car shed, or above the gate. These platforms have sufficient visible exposure at the station to EV drivers, business customers, or passersby. So, you can offer local businesses or popular brands to use these platforms for displaying their print or digital advertisements in return for some payments.

Realize the Maximum Potential of an EV Charging Station with US Supercharge!

As global powers including the US are taking a step towards the adoption of EVs, the sales are climbing up! It is expected to make new records by 2030 and reach over 35 million. While the figures depict a major shift towards sustainable and clean energy for transportation, a huge shortfall in the number of EV charging stations is an alarming concern for the public.

To create a balance between the EV adoption rate and charging facilities, government and private companies stepped into the scenario. With financial incentives, tax rebates, and credit assistance, the US federal government urged businesses, workplaces/offices, and residential complexes to install EV charging stations. 

Alongside, it also encouraged EV charging infrastructure companies to provide turnkey installation services to help residential and commercial property owners establish a charging station seamlessly. 
Installing an EV charging station can be a breakthrough step for your business! Indeed, it will drive higher footfall, and increase customer dwell time resulting in more spending, and subsequently, more revenue for your business. 

While you can enjoy all the monetary benefits, it will also uplift your brand name and image by displaying your effort towards environmental sustainability. In other words, it enhances your corporate reputation by demonstrating your commitment to reducing carbon footprint and gives you a competitive edge. 

If all the benefits of EV charging stations for businesses discussed above convince you and you want to capitalize on these, US Supercharge can help! Being a pioneering EV charging infrastructure provider in the USA, we offer all kinds of technical assistance and support to host a charging station at your commercial facility. From procuring the best-in-class charging equipment to preparing the site and acquiring permits for installation, we will guide you at every step for a smooth and trouble-free setup of a charging station. 

If your business space can accommodate a charging station, reach us today, and we will get it transformed into an advanced and failsafe charging facility!