For the last century, gas stations have proliferated throughout the world, existing on every street corner and route you can imagine. Convenience is everything with fossil fuels. Drivers want to get in and out quickly to refuel, and even the largest tanks take just a few short minutes to fill.
EV charging is different. While convenience is important, a typical charge, even at the fastest levels, can take upwards of 30 minutes. That means drivers are forced to stay put. Identifying and securing the ideal site for your EV charging stations is therefore the most critical component for your EV charging strategy. The location of your charging site defines how impactful future challenges may be, including: utilization rates, power needs, and uniquely consumer experiences.
While you continue to leverage funding for building on highway corridors, fleet depots, and the like, be sure to consider the range of potential sites available that could significantly benefit the success of your ongoing operations long after energization.
Here are 3 considerations for EV charging site planning and why they matter:
- Be Where People Are
If you want to maximize utilization rates, how often your chargers are actually charging vehicles, then build in places that people are already going. Shopping centers, travel centers, coffee shops, and restaurants are all fantastic options with existing parking spaces ripe for EV charging. According to Drive Research, most people spend between 30-45 minutes at the grocery store already. Perfect for getting an electric vehicle from low to full in one sitting. Workplace parking garages can also be ideal, especially for slower charging, since drivers will naturally be there already and their dwell time, how long their vehicles stay in the same spot, will be longer.
Convincing site hosts, the owners of those lots, to allow you to build there or lease space will be easier because you are helping capture potential customers in their vicinity. Not only will your chargers constantly be in use, but you will make your charger a destination, not a pit stop. Over 58% of respondents in a recent survey by Mercedes Benz stated that they prefer to be dining in a restaurant rather than waiting alone as their vehicles charge. Take advantage of that and reap the rewards of maximized utilization time.
- Be Where People Will Be
What does commercial real estate and EV charging have in common? The need for people to use their infrastructure. When you’ve exhausted potential site candidates in already busy areas, or just want to grow your portfolio of charging sites, looking to where new development is occurring can create great opportunities for future charging sites.
Firstly, review the current or future development and construction work going on at a potential charging site. Are there already plans to add a convenience store, shopping outlet, coffee shop, restaurant, or really anything else that draws people in and asks them to stick around? Adding in EV charging sites to these projects can be a boon to the overall success of new businesses, and open up fresh possibilities for additional clientele that otherwise may have driven right past that location. A partnership between Subway and GenZ EV Solutions announced in early 2023 is just one example of this already happening.
Areas with new development work related to multi-family housing, new corporate offices, hotels, and the like can also be great locations for your EV chargers. EV charging is a huge perk for these types of real estate, enabling them to draw in more customers and ensuring that the site host has an incentive to work with you. Moreover, it guarantees a consistent stream of new clientele ready to use your charging stations, maximizing utilization rates for years to come.
- Be Informed
Getting all of this information on potential sites is no easy task. The right tools can help make it easier though. Use GIS-based software, geographic information systems, to help you layer in data on a map about the area you are considering building in. Look at traffic patterns, how often people frequent businesses in the area, etc. to help inform which spots will yield the best results. With that data, use software that helps consolidate that information so you can do side-by-side comparisons to make your final decisions.
Sitetracker helps Charge Point Operators do this every day. With GIS Link, developers can layer in external data as well as their own for a birds-eye view of the area they want to build in. And with its robust database, those same developers can input that data into a single source of truth to make their decisions and then hand off to construction and maintenance teams to manage deployment progress from initial conception to ongoing operations and maintenance. With these tools, Charge Point Operators using Sitetracker ensure that they’re building in the right places at the right times, protecting their investments and maintaining profitability and positive consumer experiences long into the future.
Consumers want a quality EV charging experience. While charging may not be as fast as filling up a tank of gas for the foreseeable future, we can redefine the charging experience by building where people are and will be. Planning around these types of sites can help lower risk and maximize utilization, associating your brand with a positive experience every time a driver charges their vehicle. Let’s move away from the mentality that EV charging is just about refueling and instead create new experiences that grow businesses, build communities, and ensure chargers are utilized long after they are installed.
If you’re interested in learning more about how Sitetracker is supporting Charge Point Operators, request a personalized demo today.
