Pod Point
Commercial Chargepoints for Electric Vehicles
The most comprehensive guide to commercial electric vehicle charging.
The world is undergoing a transport revolution, with environmental concerns, government policy and advances in technology all playing a role in the switch to electric vehicles (EVs). As of the end of December 2018, there were around 202,000 plug-in vehicles on UK roads, but uptake is increasing rapidly. And, to help meet carbon emission targets, the Government has pledged to phase out sales of new petrol and diesel cars by 2040.
EV charging represents a business opportunity for destinations that are frequently visited by drivers. While it’s true that most EV drivers charge at home, 78 percent regularly top-up their charge at publicly accessible locations.
Businesses that have installed EV charging for public use have reported a wide range of benefits, including new revenue streams; new visitor attraction and retention; increased dwell times and basket spend among chargepoint users; an enhanced customer experience; standing out from local competition and meeting sustainabilitycommitments.
Analysts predict that the UK will need more than 100,000 publicly accessible EV chargepoints by 2020, to meet the needs of up to one million EVs, an increase of 81,315 on the number currently in the ground. By 2030, with the number of EVs forecast to hit 7.7m, we estimate that more than 1.5m public (commercial) chargepoints will be required to meet demand.
While some commercial chargepoint owners – known as hosts – set a tariff for usage of their chargepoints, these revenues comprise just one element of a wider commercial opportunity. In fact, the benefits of providing EV charging for customers are so broad ranging that some hosts, including major supermarkets, provide charging at no cost to customers.
So why would any business invest in EV charging and choose to give away free electricity? The simple answer is that these businesses find that the benefits of providing EV charging outweigh their initial investment, along with the ongoing energy costs.
