Are you a restaurant owner, grocery store, or retail property manager? More and more consumers are choosing to shop and dine where they can plug in their car.
Are you a commercial property manager? EV charging is a top office amenity requested by employees at organizations from Google to universities and government departments.
Let’s dive into the pros and cons of installing a commercial EV charging station for electric cars at your business.
Electric vehicles by the numbers
How many electric vehicles are there on Canadian roads? As of October 2019, there were roughly 136,000 BEVs and PHEVs in Canada. In 2014, there were just 10,000. This is a 500% increase in just 5 years – so it’s no wonder everyone is talking about EVs. In BC, 10% of all new vehicles sold in 2019, were electric.
And EV adoption is just getting started. The IEA predicts that 50 million new EVs could hit roads in the United States and Canada by 2030.
So what does this mean for your business? As the number of electric vehicle owners grows exponentially, so does the demand for places where they can park and charge their car. By installing smart EV chargers, you can attract foot traffic to your retail business, retain tenants at your office park, and build loyalty with this rapidly growing demographic.
Retail businesses: attract high-paying customers
Electric vehicle owners are not your ordinary customers. A recent study found that EV drivers are younger and significantly wealthier than the average vehicle owner.
In the study, the average buyer of a new Ford Focus was 46 years old and earned $77,000 per year. The electric version of the same car? The average Ford Focus electric buyer was 43 years old with a whopping household income of $199,000.
With EV charging stations still a scarce resource in many suburban and urban areas, hosting chargers at your business could attract the right customers. And not just one-time customers — EV drivers are more likely to be repeat customers of businesses where they know they can reliably top-up. Level 2 charging typically takes 1 to 4 hours, giving customers and their families plenty of time to eat and shop.
Workplaces: recruit the right employees, and keep them
Top employers like Google and Microsoft are beginning to only lease office spaces that come equipped with EV charging. And it’s not just tech giants — employees across the board are asking for a place to plug in while they work.
EV owners care about their carbon footprint and the impact they have in the world, and want to work at places that reflect these values. Plus there’s nothing that gets an EV driver to the office early like snagging the last space with a free EV charger.
Installing EV chargers goes a long way towards winning the hearts of employees who have already chosen to drive green.
Get rebates and tax credits from the government
Rebates, tax credits, and repayable contributions are a reward given by governments to incentivize the use of EVs to reduce carbon emissions. National, state, and local governments have all created policies geared towards making it easier for businesses and individuals to embrace EVs.
EV charging incentives in Canada
At the provincial level, British Columbia offers workplaces $5,000–$8,000 per port to install EV chargers.
On top of provincial incentives, Natural Resources Canada is expected to once again start accepting applications for the Zero Emission Vehicle Infrastructure Program (ZEVIP), in September 2020. The current round of ZEVIP (fully subscribed) includes workplaces, and offers contributions up to $5,000 per port or 50% of eligible project costs to purchase and install EV chargers. If your workplace is interested in taking advantage of this one-time opportunity, you should contact GROK EV Charger Services right away, so we can have your application ready to go as soon as the program reopens in September 2020.
Future-proof your business today
The era of electric transportation is here as there is even demand for EV charging for apartments. In the minds of consumers and employees, EV charging is quickly going from being a perk, to an expectation. Future-proof your business today by taking advantage of EV chargers and all of the benefits they bring.