- Provide Home Buyer Value
Residential developers should know that at home electric vehicle (EV) chargers represent convenience for a growing segment of the population: in the US, plug-in electric vehicles account for a 2.9% share of all passenger cars, continuing an upward trend that has lasted for years. - Attract Environmentally Conscience Home Buyers
A homebuyer that owns an EV will prioritize energy efficiency and bid more for a home that aligns with their values. Installing home charging stations offers convenience and shared values to many prospective homebuyers. - Improve Property Value
A study by realtor.com showed that home listings in metro areas with the most EV charging stations were 1.5 times higher than surrounding ZIP codes and 2.6 times higher than the rest of the country. The presence of charging stations in your community indicates EV adoption and progress. - Meet Employee Expectations
Unlike gas stations, which are primarily confined to their own retail locations, EV charging stations will be an expected workplace amenity, no different than high-speed internet and free coffee.
- Meet Resident Expectations
EV charging stations will attract tenants to multifamily properties that offer them.
- Generate Brand Loyalty
Installing stations at your property can create loyalty for your brand and be part of a larger marketing strategy, especially now when stations aren’t as common. Forty percent of electric vehicle owners are willing to return to properties with a charging station on at least a weekly basis, according to a report by The Institute for Transportation Studies at the University of California, Davis. The implications are the same for hotels and hospitality, as EV owners would undoubtedly be more likely to choose a hotel that has charging stations so they can plug in over the course of a road trip.
- Financial Incentives
Federal, state, and local tax incentives also make installing EV charging stations more affordable than you may think.
- Gain A Competitive Edge
Being an early adopter of charging stations gives property owners a competitive edge. If you offer the opportunity to charge and your competitor does not, EV drivers will choose your business instead.
- Create A New Revenue Source
Both the charging service itself and dollars from customer time on property while their vehicle is charging can create new revenue for your business. ChargePoint, an EV charging infrastructure company, said in a recent report that charging stations increase customer ‘dwell time.’ In the instance of one business, charging stations increased dwell time at the store by 50 minutes. Over the course of nine months, the business had recorded 1,134 unique charging sessions. As customers hung around for a longer time, they spent more too.
- Improve Your Image
More people than ever today are looking to do business with companies that care about sustainability and doing their part in fighting climate change. Installing charging stations highlights a property owner’s commitment to the environment, as they do their part to expand the nation’s electric vehicle adoption and charging infrastructure. Eighty-seven percent of consumers said in a 2017 Forbes survey they have a more positive image of a company that supports social and environmental responsibility.
- Attract More Customers
More people than ever today are looking to do business with companies that care about sustainability and doing their part in fighting climate change. Installing charging stations highlights a property owner’s commitment to the environment, as they do their part to expand the nation’s electric vehicle adoption and charging infrastructure. Eighty-seven percent of consumers said in a 2017 Forbes survey they have a more positive image of a company that supports social and environmental responsibility.
- Attract and Retain Talent
Charging stations are an excellent amenity for any employer as well as commercial real estate that can attract talented workers or better-paying office tenants.
- Attract High End Customers
EV owners are typically wealthier, which means property owners can entice a higher-income clientele. Electric vehicle prices will probably come down as a wider variety of new models are introduced by carmakers, but for now, most EVs are rather expensive. Of the 11 new electric vehicle models sold in the U.S. between 2018 and 2020, eight of them were luxury vehicles.
- Advertising Revenue
EV owners are typically wealthier, which means property owners can entice a higher-income clientele. Electric vehicle prices will probably come down as a wider variety of new models are introduced by carmakers, but for now, most EVs are rather expensive. Of the 11 new electric vehicle models sold in the U.S. between 2018 and 2020, eight of them were luxury vehicles.
- Charging Revenue
Another potential source of revenue is selling advertising on EV charging displays, which could work for all property types. Volta Charging, a provider of EV charging stations nationwide, offers public stations which are free to use because the advertising revenue offsets the costs. Volta’s charging stations have 55-inch digital displays and are currently spread out in 200 cities in 23 states. Some of the brands that have been advertised on Volta’s charging displays are GM, Hulu, and Unilever.
- Grab Tax Incentives While You Can
There’s a wide assortment of tax incentives and rebates at the federal, state, and local levels that can make charging stations surprisingly affordable. Some utility incentive programs will cover as much as 100 percent of installation costs, a pretty sweet deal. State agencies and county and local agencies also offer great rebate programs. And federal, state, and local agencies are looking to ramp up EV charging infrastructure nationwide in the next few years. Many of these programs have deadlines, and if you take a wait-and-see approach to install stations, you could potentially miss out.
- Take Advantage of Growing Demand and Lacking Supply
The U.S. currently only has 104,000 EV charging stations available today, and just 18 percent of them are Level 3 stations that charge up EVs in less than an hour. So, for now, EV charging stations are rare; only 9.7 percent of households in U.S. cities have access to one within a quarter of a mile. Many EV owners have a station at home, but renters and those in multifamily properties may not have easy access. Now is the time to grab a share of the EV charging market while stations are still scarce.
- Put Your Business On The Map
With the low supply of charging stations and high demand, properties that offer charging stations can position themselves excellently to EV owners. Many owners today report having ‘range anxiety,’ meaning they fear their battery power will run out before they can find a charging station. Installing a station at your property can, quite literally, put you on the map. A quick search for stations on Google Maps displays stores and other locations with stations, and popular third-party apps like PlugShare and ChargeHub allow EV owners to search for stations close to them. Being part of the charging network locally and nationally could draw tenants or customers to your property who may not have found you otherwise. - Become Your Own Energy Hub
New technology that enables charging stations to discharge power back into buildings can be especially effective at managing energy use, being part of the broader trend of transforming buildings into their own energy hubs. New, vehicle-to-grid (V2G) technology can take energy from idle EVs and pump it back into buildings and the power grid, while enhancing vehicle batteries’ lifespan. This energy could help power garage lighting or air conditioning. This vehicle-to-building tech thereby decreases the total energy consumption and balances the energy needs of a building.
Consider gaining a competitive edge now and jumping on the EV bandwagon. You might want to scoop up those tax rebates while they’re still available. Smart property owners can capitalize on the surge in electric vehicles while potentially adding new revenue streams, increasing brand loyalty, and adopting exciting new tech-like vehicle-to-buildings that could go a long way toward managing energy consumption. The staggering amount of investment from governments and automakers in electric vehicles and EV charging stations at the moment has some analysts predicting the electrification of our automotive fleet will be like a tsunami in the coming years ahead. Current tax incentives offer great deals for property owners, sometimes covering the total cost of charging station installation, but those incentives won’t last forever. Many people say the electric vehicle boom is coming, and it may be here faster than you think. Building owners can cash in on this potential boom now or risk letting the opportunity escape.
