The Right Tool for the (EV Charging) Job.
Why selecting the right EV charging solution attracts more customers and keeps your business top of mind.
A new grocery store in my neighborhood is nearing completion, and while I’m excited to check it out, I was disheartened to see the “wrong style” of EV charging station installed. They broke the age-old rule of “choosing the right tool for the job.” Six Level-2 (6.6-kilowatt (kW)) ports were put in right near the store’s entrance when it ought to have been a DC Fast Charger, ideally a 50kW to 60kW unit.
ChargePoint Level-2 station (left) will provide roughly 20 miles of range in an hour, while a DC unit (right) is about 10 times more powerful - and a much bigger draw to grocery shoppers.
What’s the difference?
A Level-2 station will provide roughly 20 miles of range in an hour, while a 60kW DC unit is about 10 times more powerful - a much bigger draw to shoppers than a Level-2 unit. Our data reveals two-thirds of drivers using a 50-60kW DC Fast Charger typically spend an hour or less charging. Similarly, the average grocery store visit is about 42 minutes - so it’s pretty close to an ideal match.
Why does the right pairing matter?
Currently, at this new store, I might get only 10 miles of range during my shopping time - that’s if I bother to plug in at all.
This is not to say that I’m against using Level-2 stations. In the right context, they can be a fantastic choice and over the last decade our company has sold thousands of level-2 stations; however, like any project, it is important to find the right tool for the job.
For example, a Level-2 (6.6kW - 11kW) is a great choice for multi-family housing, or workplaces, or even curbside charging. Any place where drivers are likely to be parked for a few hours or more.
For a sit-down restaurant, the site owner may want to consider either a high-powered Level 2 (19kW) unit or a low-powered DC (25kW - 30kW) unit that will offer more like 50 to 70 miles of range in an hour.
Fast casual restaurant or a convenience store? Go with a much higher power output of 150kW or 250kW since patrons will only be in your establishment for a short time.
Busy, multi-tasking parents will more often opt for DC Fast Charging while grocery shopping if it’s available.
The right (fueling) solution attracts more customers.
Finding the right charging solution isn’t just about pairing the charging experience with the right retail experience - it’s also about understanding what drivers need and how that need might impact your business.
In the end, an EV charging station isn’t just an amenity; it’s a fueling resource and consumers make choices based on their specific fueling needs.
For example, our new grocery store is across the street from a big box store that also happens to sell groceries - and they have DC fast chargers in their parking lot. So think about it. If I am a busy parent who needs to check both charging and shopping off my list, where am I more likely to go? Odds are I’ll pick the option where I can fuel up the fastest and pick up groceries - killing two birds with one stone.
Similarly, last summer my wife took a road trip in our EV. For years she’s been a Marriott loyalist, but on this trip, she opted to stay at hotels with charging (Level-2) and, if necessary, forgo her Marriott points. Fueling while she slept allowed her to get on the road faster in the morning and gave her peace of mind that she’d get to her next destination without a separate stop for charging.
In other words, we need to rethink what EV chargers are really for - fueling. And fueling is a big deal - big enough to influence the choices EV drivers make and more importantly, how they spend their money and how much of it they spend. Several studies show that EV drivers tend to spend more at the places they stop than non-EV drivers.
So why did my new grocery store make this choice?
The answer is actually a pretty simple one.
The good news is many municipalities are now requiring charging be included in all new commercial developments, which is 8 times cheaper than the cost to retrofit an already-built property. The bad news is contractors often don’t know what they don’t know and many site owners still don’t know what they should be asking for. It’s a natural phenomenon that happens in young industries.
It’s no different than the first personal computer I bought back in the late ‘80s. Today, we all understand (or at least have a working knowledge of) processing speeds, storage, screen definition and other features, but back then, without doing a lot of research (without the internet no less), there was a lot we didn’t know.
All too often, contractors put in the lowest cost option so they can “check the box” and/or balance their budget. While I understand the rationale, it really is doing a disservice to their client and the drivers their client serves.
This happened to one of our clients not too long ago when a local municipality was rebuilding the clubhouse at a city-owned golf course. The contractor put in a system completely different from what the city had standardized years earlier, but it “checked the box.”
In the end, the city paid for something they didn’t want and are now considering spending even more money to remove the chargers and get the system they had originally selected (We warned the contractor. They didn’t listen to us.). Unfortunately, the city was not specific enough in their project specifications and got stuck with the wrong product.
Thankfully, there are ways to avoid this situation. Here are a couple of recommendations on how to get the right product for the right application:
Ask for expert advice. If you’re unsure of what you want, start by calling either an EV charging provider specialist, your local Clean Cities office or your state energy office. Our company, National Car Charging, is always happy to provide some initial high-level consulting at no charge and I know many of our competitors operate the same way. By reaching out to a seasoned charging provider or consultant (or two), you can learn through their experience. By sharing the intended use case, the expected user profile, and your project goals, we can recommend the type of system you should be targeting. We can also help identify what the local codes require and what incentives might be available.
Include detailed specs in your plans. Once you’ve identified the right EV charging solution for your project, ask your architect or engineer to call out the specs and the specific model name in the plans. We’ve even had customers add our phone number to the plans to save the contractor time, or in some cases, the customer will simply say “owner-provided equipment” to ensure they get exactly what they want.
All too often, we still see the wrong charging solution installed, but now that EV sales have crossed the 10% threshold of new car sales in the U.S., the time has come for property developers to embrace the nuances of EV charging in the same way they do signage, traffic flow, lighting, and the look of the façade.
Every situation is different - location, goals, power supply and so on; however, below is a high level summary to help guide you as you begin your research process.
Perhaps the new grocery store in my neighborhood will upgrade to the right type of equipment before long, or perhaps they won’t. Perhaps they will think there is no demand for EV charging while looking directly across the street at the constantly busy DC Fast Charging site.
The good news is that this kind of mistake is getting easier and easier to avoid by reaching out to experts who are eager to help early in the planning process, and then letting your contractors know what you want. Finding the right tool for the charging job is not hard when you ask the right people and give it the attention it deserves. Happy charging!
Written by Jim Burness, CEO and Founder of National Car Charging.
Jim Burness founded National Car Charging (NCC) in 2011 with the belief that business can thrive while doing good for the planet. Eleven years later, NCC and its sister company, Aloha Charge, are collectively the leading reseller and installer of electric vehicle infrastructure in the country and Jim is considered one of the nation’s top EV and charging experts. With previous careers in both the automotive industry and the renewable energy sector, Jim launched NCC to build out the nation’s EV charging infrastructure in a wide variety of key channels including retail, hospitality, municipal facilities, and multi-family dwellings. Today, NCC manages 8000+ ports nationwide across 800+ customers with installations in 48 states.