As our recent guide to EV and EV Charger incentives shows, most European countries are now pushing forward with electrification to cut carbon emissions significantly by 2030. The UK announced a new £400 million fund for EV chargers just last month, Italy has introduced a comprehensive EV incentives program for the first time this year, and Germany has just ratified its updated 2030 Climate Plan, continuing current incentives well into 2025. Other countries are on the same pathway. This means that EVs -and their chargers-are coming and they’re here to stay.
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So, get ready to say goodbye to petrol pumps and hello to sparkly new EV charging points at your local service station, as many Norwegians and Americans are already doing. Businesses that want to not just survive, but thrive, in this increasingly electric environment will have to keep up. With EV charger incentives now becoming the norm across much of Europe, businesses of all kinds must take advantage of the opportunity to develop their own charging infrastructure for employees and/or customers. Not only do government incentives normally have time limits but without such infrastructure, your business may increasingly struggle to compete with those who have already gone electric. Continue reading to discover other potential benefits of charging stations for your business:
Get The Green Light
Today’s consumers are more concerned with the ethical reputation of the companies they buy from than those of the past. A report by Forbes in 2017 found that a whopping 87% of consumers tend to have a more positive image of a company that supports social or environmental issues. 88% are also more likely to remain loyal to such a company than a less eco-conscious competitor. In other words, most people today are concerned about social and environmental issues and increasingly opt to buy from and work with companies that fit with their personal ethical values. This is especially the case for millennials and “generation Xers” and those who already own or who may in the future own an electric vehicle – usually a more environmentally-minded demographic.
Whether you’re a supermarket offering charging facilities to your customers or a logistics company with an electric fleet and its own charging infrastructure, installing EV chargers on your premises shows your company is choosing to go green. EV charging can be part of a larger sustainability goal. This in turn allows certain businesses to gain industry-recognized sustainability qualifications, such as LEED certification. For real-estate companies aiming to gain country or continent-specific environmental accreditation, for example, installing EV chargers for their tenants may really help them to tick important boxes for such certification.
This will not only boost your brand image and reputation, increasing customer loyalty, and bringing in new customers, especially as more and more people become EV owners. It will also help to attract and retain employees who, like consumers, are increasingly concerned with environmental and social issues. Installing EV chargers may also actively encourage environmentally-friendly behaviors among employees, clients, or tenants who haven’t yet ‘gone green. Indeed, according to a survey conducted by the US Department of Energy, workers are 20 times more likely to buy an electric vehicle if their employers offer free charging at work. Besides all the business benefits then, going electric will also give you the sheer satisfaction of doing something good for the environment!
Make Your Business The Convenient Choice
Going greener by installing EV chargers will not only boost customer loyalty due to reputation. As more people own EVs, and the drive towards an electric future in 2030 really kicks in, EV chargers will become essential facilities. If freely accessible WiFi is now present in most public places in Europe, EV charging will also become near-ubiquitous in the coming years. Customers will expect their favorite shops, restaurants, and hotels to provide them – and if they don’t, they will switch providers. After all, why would you go grocery shopping and not charge your EV for free if you could?
When it comes to more remote businesses like service stations and hotels that require longer travel time, EV chargers will be even more essential. For customers who may have had to drive long distances, charging will be more than just convenient: they’ll need it to continue their journey. This is also true of commercial or residential real estate. Companies renting office space will increasingly expect these businesses to offer EV chargers for their employees. Meanwhile, tenants who are EV owners will, understandably, expect to be able to charge their car at their home too.
Future employees or service partners that use EVs will also increasingly begin to consider charging stations as granted, inevitably picking the employers or partners that offer them over those who don’t. A good pension package and Friday night drinks with work friends are only some of the requirements that today’s employees expect; onsite charging will become the norm as more people commute to work using EVs or electric scooters. Indeed, research shows that employees increasingly appreciate charging stations at their workplace. In the US alone, 74% of Plug-in Electric Vehicle (PEV) owners express a strong interest in workplace charging. The benefits of EV charging stations for your business are therefore not just limited to the customer side. They’ll also help your company internally by driving recruitment and higher employee retainment rates.
Installing EV chargers will grow your brand’s visibility and draw in new clients. New applications such as Zapmap and Open Charge Map enable EV drivers to plan routes, locate sites with electric charging points, add their own charging locations, and create discussions. Users can add information about the site and give reviews based on their experience. This kind of application opens up a business’ potential customer base; many visitors may be local, others may be passersby, but both will help to build brand visibility by word-of-mouth. If you manage to get a good review – aided perhaps by special deals in store for EV owners who charge at your site – you will be able to consolidate brand loyalty and encourage first-time chargers to return in the future.
You might be thinking: ‘but how do EVs relate to my business? I don’t know if any of my customers even own EVs!’ Whether you’re a local café or a nationwide hotel chain, it’s still worth trying to encourage EV owners to form part of your customer base. Research shows that EV owners tend to be higher-earning than the average population. They’re predominantly men with higher levels of education, in full-time employment, and around the ages of 30–45. Looking towards the future, such research also shows that electric vehicles may soon become popular among higher-income females and retirees/pensioners. Providing charging facilities may, therefore, give you a competitive advantage in terms of opening up new audiences or growing existing ones over the years.
Currently, EV owners also appear to have high levels of disposable income, making them potentially bigger-spenders when they visit your business. As EVs become more affordable across the board, with advanced battery technology becoming cheaper and government incentives and regulations ramping up, they are likely to become the norm for everyone, regardless of socio-economic background. Investing in infrastructure that accommodates EVs, then, will likely make your business more market-resilient and give it broader appeal in the future.
Going electric means serious savings for your business. Company fleets that are partially or fully electrified will enable you to access government subsidy funds and leverage tax benefits such as avoiding company car tax. Not only that, but they’ll also allow you to make ongoing savings, such as eliminating tolls on motorways. When local incentives, like subsidies for charging infrastructure via schemes like the UK’s Workplace Charging Scheme, are combined with the comparatively low cost of electricity versus petrol, taking the EV route is a no-brainer for your budget. If installing a charger is virtually free, depending on where your business is based, and charging and maintaining EVs is always cheaper than petrol options, why on earth would any business not electrify their fleet?
Reducing your carbon footprint also has the advantage of lowering your carbon emissions tax. The EU ETS, regulating the carbon emissions tax across the continent, applies to a variety of businesses, from power generators to large industrial premises and manufacturers, including food processing plants, to certain public sector facilities, to hospitals. If your business is taxed under these regulations, reducing your carbon footprint should be high on your priorities if you want to keep your revenues high.
Another often overlooked saving point is the energy resilience that having an electric fleet can offer in emergency scenarios. Investing in chargers that are bi-directional, in other words, that are ‘two-way’ and can convert and direct energy both into the car and out of it back to its source, means that EVs plugged into your charging infrastructure can act as a source of energy (via their battery storage) during power-outs or shortages. Renewable energies are not necessarily, as is often believed, more unreliable than fossil fuels – in fact, in some cases, they have been shown to actually strengthen grid resilience. Even so, you can never rule out possible shortages. Indeed, the number one threat to grid resilience when it comes to renewables is probably erratic weather patterns and natural hazards, as renewable sources of energy are often physically climate-vulnerable. With climate change making global weather patterns more erratic, natural weather hazards may occur more often, potentially becoming a bigger issue in terms of grid resilience. EVs may, therefore, provide an important emergency energy source in times of need, saving your business thousands of euros in potential lost business that could occur due to energy failures.
Additionally, EV chargers will allow you to increase revenue. Firstly, customers with EVs are more likely to stay at your site for more time to charge, thus encouraging them to purchase more products or services. Depending on the charger type – fast, rapid, or slow – EVs take an average time of 30 minutes to 12 hours to charge. By opting for a fast-charging system with an average charging time of, say, an hour, you can offer customers a quick-enough charging service while also encouraging them to stay a little longer and purchase that item they’ve been eyeing up for weeks.
Secondly, EV charging points can be a source of extra revenue in themselves. Depending on the business model you go for, you may want to generate additional income by selling electricity to EV owners. This may be a blanket (everyone pays) or stratified (only the public rather than customers pay) strategy. But either way, it will bring in new funds, even if only used as a way to attract customers via free charging to boost sales of your actual products and services. Businesses with chargers can also generate revenue via targeted advertising; EV owners who agree to receive emails, for instance, can be sent new information about promotions and opportunities to encourage them to come back in the future. Advertising space can also be sold to external organizations for a fee.
Installing your own charging stations on-site will give you access to a high volume of useful data, for example, C02 savings, kWh-usage, energy costs, and charging point activity. Such data can be used to inform internal reports, tax declarations, and logistics and marketing plans to boost accuracy and make implementation processes more effective. Having your own chargers also means that such data does not need to be bought from a third party or filtered by one, meaning that your employees, business owners, and fleet managers can have direct access to data insights. They can, therefore, use it in the most agile and flexible ways to gain insights into various aspects of your business.
As demonstrated by our EV incentives guide in Europe, most European countries are aiming for near-total electrification by 2030. The fossil fuel to electric vehicle transition is already happening. However, when combined with increasing incentives and the breakthrough in battery technology development that’s just around the corner, this shift is set to be in full swing by 2025-30. Indeed, given that there were around 3 million EVs in the world in 2018, it’s estimated that that number will rise to 125 million by 2030. EVs are where it’s at: if your business wants to capitalize on the many benefits noted in this article and stay competitive, you should enter the arena and get investing in EV charging infrastructure sooner, rather than later.
To find out what kind of charger would work best for your business, visit our website here.
All forms of electric vehicles (EVs) can help improve fuel economy, lower fuel costs, and reduce emissions.
The United States became a net exporter of petroleum in 2020 with exports surpassing imports, although imports of 8.32 million barrels per day in 2022 remained an important part of balancing supply and demand for domestic and international markets. Overall, the transportation sector accounts for approximately 30% of total U.S. energy needs and 70% of U.S. petroleum consumption. Using more energy efficient vehicles like hybrid and electric vehicles supports the U.S. economy and helps diversify the U.S. transportation fleet. The multiple fuel sources used to generate electricity results in a more secure energy source for the electrified portion of the transportation sector. All of this adds to our nation’s energy security.
Hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs) typically use less fuel than similar conventional vehicles because they employ electric-drive technologies to boost vehicle efficiency through regenerative braking—recapturing energy otherwise lost during braking. Plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) and all-electric vehicles, also referred to as battery electric vehicles (BEVs), are both capable of being powered solely by electricity, which is produced in the United States from natural gas, coal, nuclear energy, wind energy, hydropower, and solar energy.
Although energy costs for EVs are generally lower than for similar conventional vehicles, purchase prices can be significantly higher. Prices are likely to equalize with conventional vehicles, as production volumes increase and battery technologies continue to mature. Also, initial costs can be offset by fuel cost savings, federal tax credits, and state and utility incentives. The federal Clean Vehicle Tax Credits are available are available to consumers, fleets, businesses, and tax-exempt entities investing in new, used, and commercial clean vehicles—including all-electric vehicles, PHEVs, fuel cell EVs—and EV charging infrastructure. Some states and electric utilities also offer incentives, many of which can be found in the Laws and Incentives database. For more information on available incentives, connect with your local Clean Cities coalition.
Use the Vehicle Cost Calculator to compare lifetime ownership costs of individual models of electric vehicles and conventional vehicles.
Electric vehicles can reduce fuel costs dramatically because of the high efficiency of electric-drive components. Because all-electric vehicles and PHEVs rely in whole or part on electric power, their fuel economy is measured differently than that of conventional vehicles. Miles per gallon of gasoline equivalent (MPGe) and kilowatt-hours (kWh) per 100 miles are common metrics. Depending on how they are driven, today's light-duty all-electric vehicles (or PHEVs in electric mode) can exceed 130 MPGe and can drive 100 miles consuming only 25–40 kWh.
HEVs typically achieve better fuel economy and have lower fuel costs than similar conventional vehicles. For example, FuelEconomy.gov lists the 2023 Toyota Corolla Hybrid at an EPA combined city-and-highway fuel economy estimate of 50 miles per gallon (MPG), while the estimate for the conventional 2023 Corolla (four cylinder, automatic) is 35 MPG. Use the Find A Car tool on FuelEconomy.gov to compare fuel economy ratings of individual hybrid and conventional models.
The fuel economy of medium- and heavy-duty all-electric vehicles and PHEVs is highly dependent on the load carried and the duty cycle, but in the right applications, all-electric vehicles maintain a strong fuel-to-cost advantage over their conventional counterparts.
All-electric vehicles and PHEVs have the benefit of flexible charging because the electric grid is near most locations where people park. To safely deliver energy from the electric grid to a vehicle’s battery, an EV charging station, sometimes referred to as electric vehicle supply equipment (EVSE), is needed. Drivers can charge overnight at a residence, including multifamily housing, as well as the workplace or a public charging station when available. PHEVs have added flexibility because they can also refuel with gasoline or diesel (or possibly other fuels in the future) when necessary.
Public charging stations are not as ubiquitous as gas stations. Charging equipment manufacturers, automakers, utilities, Clean Cities coalitions, states, municipalities, and government agencies are rapidly establishing a national network of public charging stations. The number of publicly accessible charging stations in the United States reached more than 53,000 in 2023, offering more than 137,000 charging ports, according to the Alternative Fueling Station Locator. Search for electric charging stations near you.
Electric and hybrid vehicles can have significant emissions benefits over conventional vehicles. All-electric vehicles produce zero tailpipe emissions, and PHEVs produce no tailpipe emissions when operating in all-electric mode. HEV emissions benefits vary by vehicle model and type of hybrid power system.
The life cycle emissions of an electric vehicle depend on the source of the electricity used to charge it, which varies by region. In geographic areas that use relatively low-polluting energy sources for electricity production, electric vehicles typically have a life cycle emissions advantage over similar conventional vehicles running on gasoline or diesel. In regions that depend heavily on conventional electricity generation, electric vehicles may not demonstrate a strong life cycle emissions benefit. Use the Electricity Sources and Emissions Tool to compare fuel-cycle emissions by vehicle type and state.
The advanced batteries in electric vehicles are designed for extended life but will wear out eventually. Several manufacturers of electric vehicles are offering 8-year/100,000-mile battery warranties. Predictive modeling by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory indicates that today’s batteries may last 12 to 15 years in moderate climates (8 to 12 years in extreme climates). In addition to climate, other factors impacting battery life include driving and charging patterns, battery cell chemistry and design, and the vehicle-battery-environment thermal system.
Check with your dealer for model-specific information about battery life and warranties. Although manufacturers have not published pricing for replacement batteries, some are offering extended warranty programs with monthly fees. If the batteries need to be replaced outside the warranty, it may be a significant expense. Battery prices are expected to continue declining as battery technologies improve and production volumes increase.
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