According to research by Morpace Inc, electric vehicle charging stations are good for, well, charging electric vehicles, among other things, such as your business’ bottom line.
Polling more than 250 plug-in hybrid and battery electric vehicle drivers, Morpace Incorporated considered their charging habits, such as when they charge, where they charge and, importantly, how much they pay to charge. One thing that Morpace’s study determined was that only about 90% of electric vehicle owners had a charging station, which I’m figuring refers to an actual LII charging station, as opposed to plugging in to a 110 V socket. When it comes to public charging stations, however, studies indicated that drivers only plugged in about three times a month, probably a good reflection on where they do most of their charging, at home, that is.
Interestingly, while on the road, electric vehicle owners only plugged into a public charging station when they absolutely needed to. Plug-in hybrid vehicle drivers, on the other hand, looked for charging stations as often as possible, most likely since most plug-in hybrid vehicles have such short electric-only range. One thing that both plug-in hybrid and battery electric vehicles did agree on was preferring establishments that had public access electric vehicle charging stations, which leads us back to finishing our title, that electric vehicle charging stations are good for… business!
Perhaps, according to the study, the only thing that businesses could do to attract even more electric vehicle owners to their doorsteps would be to offer free charging. While about 70% of drivers paid about $1.50 per hour of charging, the other 30% or so didn’t pay anything for charging. About half of those, or 15% of the pool, said that, if a charge was put in place on their currently-free charging stations, they still wouldn’t pay. Perhaps business owners looking to keep 100% of the pool would consider keeping their charging stations free? Of course, that money has to come from somewhere, so I’m betting that fits into the entire green business plan, somehow.
Photo credit: *lapin
