Why You Should Install Electric Vehicle Charging Stations

If you don’t already know, most car companies have committed to replacing a large portion or all their fleet to electric vehicles by 2025. And while three years seems like a long time to transition to an electric vehicle friendly facility, it’s not just car companies looking to the future of this technology, but customers, too.

The bottom line is

If you’re not catering to the future of drivers now, you’re going to be left in the dust sooner rather than later. But if that’s not enough to convince you to install electric vehicle charging stations, here are some other reasons:

If you don’t, your competitors will.

• As more people make the switch to electric vehicles (EV), other property owners, mixed-use communities, and shopping centers will have already invested in this technology. So, when your customers are choosing a place to shop, eat, or live, and they own an electric vehicle or plan to own an electric vehicle in the near future, the charging station availability and number of charging stations available will dictate where they go. And subsequently, how successful your facility will be.
• Electric vehicles work best on a “top up” method of charging. While you can easily go all the way down to E on a gas vehicle and stop at a gas station for ten minutes or less to fill up, electric vehicles don’t work that way (at least not yet). So, the habits of drivers are shifting—instead of waiting for their vehicle to go to empty, they’ll want to top up every chance they get to make sure their vehicle is fully charged. That means when they go to a grocery store, they’ll look for a location with a charging station. When they shop, they’ll seek out centers and facilities with stations. The gym? Same thing—they’ll choose one that best suits their every need. By providing this service, you’re telling your customers that you’re investing in their choices. When the customer’s choice feels validated, they’re more willing to shop and spend time wherever that may be.

Should you wait to install EV Chargers when there are more electric vehicles on the road?

• If the pandemic has taught us anything, it’s that demand causes delay. And not just a day or two, but weeks or months. Remember when everyone was having everything delivered and it would take double or triple the time for your goods to arrive? Or when everyone was buying KN-95 masks and you couldn’t find them anywhere? And don’t even get us started on the toilet paper fiasco. The point is, when everyone starts having a need for something, it drives up the demand, which drives up the amount of time it takes to get that thing done or have that thing delivered. By waiting, all you’re doing is creating an even longer wait for yourself down the road. Electric vehicles are the future. Overall, electric vehicles are cheaper than gas and with the decreasing cost of battery packs, EV’s will only continue to become more affordable as the technology improves. And these days, technology advances faster than 0-60 in 2.07 seconds.*
  • *That may or may not be a Tesla reference.

Does it matter what type of charging station I install?

• These days, everything is smart—your phone, your car, your house, your customers—so the best investment for your business is a charging station that’s smart, too. Smart stations, or networked stations, make it simple to pay, track the charge on your vehicle, and alert the property owner to any possible issues with the charging station. Many smart stations also come with easy to view light systems that help customers discern at-a-glance from a distance whether a station is open, in operation, or if the vehicle currently docked is fully charged and should be leaving soon.
• Alternatively, a nonnetworked station doesn’t have any of that. It doesn’t discourage drivers to move their vehicles when they have a sufficient charge because there’s no way to alert them that this has occurred. There’s also no method to alert other drivers if a station becomes available, or potentially how much longer docked cars might be. These stations usually require you to create an account for their specific type of charger to pay. Or, if they do happen to have alternate payment methods, they’re simply connected to a WiFi network to allow for the station to work, and we all know how reliable WiFi is.

Who can install my charging stations?

• Your EV Charger should be installed by a licensed electrician—but why stop there? By having a full facility service company install your charger, you can purchase, install, and have maintenance done by those fully equipped to do so. An electrician will be able to install the system, but a company that has a dedicated team of electrician’s installing EV chargers, who knows the ins and outs of your system will be able to help maintain, troubleshoot, and service your stations when the time comes. By choosing a full-service company, you won’t need to call your area’s electric provider, an electrician, and the company who makes the charging stations just to find and fix any potential issues.

Don’t wait until it’s too late.

Time and again, we see that the brands and property owners that are willing to invest wisely in obvious future trends are the ones that come out on top. By investing in your property, you’re telling your customers and tenants that you care about their welfare and about their success. Just like in life, it pays to be one step ahead, especially when change is right on your heels.

• Triangle is fully equipped to assist you in choosing the right EV Chargers for your property, schedule installation, and be on-call for service throughout the lifetime of your investment. Get in touch with our sales department to see how we can outfit your facility for the future: sales@trianglesign.com