Can an Electric Vehicle (EV) Future Work for Your Business?

EV ownership is growing and continues to gain speed. With the automotive industry embracing a future focused on electric vehicle development and production, many commercial businesses are exploring this new source of opportunity and service to their customers through the installation of charging stations and using EVs in their own fleets. How should your business respond to this new reality? At PSO, we want to provide you with information so you can answer that question for yourself. After all, knowledge is power.

LET’S TALK EVs

Explore Your Options.

When it comes to how EVs can impact your business, there are several areas to consider, for example the capacity and design of your current electrical infrastructure, your parking environment where the charging stations will be installed, and the vehicles that will be using them. We’ll start with charging stations. Click here to learn about fleet information.

Ideal Businesses for EV Charging Stations.

Charging can take place at home, at work, while running errands or at a fleet location.

CHARGING AT HOME

If your business is “home”—even short term—charging stations would provide a convenience to your customers and possibly a competitive advantage for you. Hotels, resorts, universities, apartment complexes, and more fit this category. Local renters in PSO’s service area are more likely to purchase an EV, and at least a third of renters say they are more likely to choose rental properties with car chargers.

CHARGING AT WORK

In 2022, 69 percent of employed persons did some or all their work at their workplace, working an average of 7.9 hours per day.1 In Oklahoma, 82.6 percent of workers drive their own car to work.2 That’s a lot of parking (and potential charging) time at work. In PSO’s service area, close to half of Millennials and almost 2/3 of Gen Z Adults plan to consider some type of EV vehicle for their next purchase.

CHARGING WHILE OUT

If the primary goal of your company is to drive traffic to your place of business, there’s a good chance investing in EV charging stations can help. A pilot program at Target that provided EV chargers for customers saw those customers spend triple the amount of time in store (and as a result, more money) than non-EV drivers.3

CHARGING WHILE TRAVELING

Most charging is done at home, but with battery ranges over 250 miles, many people drive their EVs long distances. If your business is near an interstate or highway, or near an attraction that draws visitors from out of town, it may be a great place to add charging for visitors to your community.

Hover to read

> SOURCE: 1. U.S. Department of Labor 2. Best Places 3. Inspire Advanced Transportation

Can an Electric Vehicle (EV) Future Work for Your Business?

EV ownership is growing and continues to gain speed. With the automotive industry embracing a future focused on electric vehicle development and production, many commercial businesses are exploring this new source of opportunity and service to their customers through the installation of charging stations and using EVs in their own fleets. How should your business respond to this new reality? At PSO, we want to provide you with information so you can answer that question for yourself. After all, knowledge is power.

LET’S TALK EVs

Explore Your Options.

When it comes to how EVs can impact your business, there are several areas to consider, for example the capacity and design of your current electrical infrastructure, your parking environment where the charging stations will be installed, and the vehicles that will be using them. We’ll start with charging stations. Click here to learn about fleet information.

Ideal Businesses for EV Charging Stations.

Charging can take place at home, at work, while running errands or at a fleet location.

CHARGING AT HOME

If your business is “home”—even short term—charging stations would provide a convenience to your customers and possibly a competitive advantage for you. Hotels, resorts, universities, apartment complexes, and more fit this category. Local renters in PSO’s service area are more likely to purchase an EV, and at least a third of renters say they are more likely to choose rental properties with car chargers.

CHARGING AT WORK

In 2022, 69 percent of employed persons did some or all their work at their workplace, working an average of 7.9 hours per day.1 In Oklahoma, 82.6 percent of workers drive their own car to work.2 That’s a lot of parking (and potential charging) time at work. In PSO’s service area, close to half of Millennials and almost 2/3 of Gen Z Adults plan to consider some type of EV vehicle for their next purchase.

CHARGING WHILE OUT

If the primary goal of your company is to drive traffic to your place of business, there’s a good chance investing in EV charging stations can help. A pilot program at Target that provided EV chargers for customers saw those customers spend triple the amount of time in store (and as a result, more money) than non-EV drivers.3

CHARGING WHILE TRAVELING

Most charging is done at home, but with battery ranges over 250 miles, many people drive their EVs long distances. If your business is near an interstate or highway, or near an attraction that draws visitors from out of town, it may be a great place to add charging for visitors to your community.

Hover to read

> SOURCE: 1. U.S. Department of Labor 2. Best Places 3. Inspire Advanced Transportation

The Benefits of Installing EV Charging Stations At Your Business.

01

Attract EV-Driving Customers. Many EV drivers have already installed a residential Level 2 electric vehicle charger in their garage and usually do not need to make a special trip to a charging facility while away from home. When heading out to do business, EV drivers who don’t have home charging or fail to charge their EV will frequently use phone apps to search for locations equipped with charging stations. These are the businesses they are most likely to patronize, as both first-time and repeat customers.4

02

Build Customer Loyalty. In a survey of EV drivers, 81% of respondents said that the availability of a charging station at businesses makes them more loyal to the business.5

03

Entice and Retain EV-Driving Employees. Customers are not the only people attracted by a convenient on-site EV charging station. You can also increase your pool of potential employees and build loyalty among your current employees who drive EVs or are considering an EV.6

04

Increase Your Property Value. Today’s top names in retail and commercial real estate, including Walmart and the owners of Woodland Hills Mall, recognize the importance of electric vehicle charger installation. Follow their example and add charging stations to your parking facilities to increase your property’s value.7

05

Motivate Customers to Stay Longer And Spend More. Pilot studies have shown that EV drivers, when provided on-premise car charging facilities, spend more time in the store than non-EV drivers. These and other studies have shown that increased customer “dwell time” resulted in increased revenue.8

06

Unlock New Revenue Streams When monetized effectively, opening up your charging to guests or tying it to your loyalty programs can become a new revenue opportunity for your business. For example, if your business is in a highly trafficked area, you may choose to allow community and visitor charging outside of work hours for a fee. Or, if you’re a hotel, you may unlock additional revenue by integrating charging into your existing loyalty program or fixed fees for dedicated guest charging.

> SOURCE: 4, 6, 7. Sun Electrical 5, 8. Fuels Institute

Ready to learn more?

LET’S TALK EVs

Operating Models for EV Charging Stations.

There are four common operating models for EV charging stations at your business:

Service Model: Charging is offered for free to customers. Value is derived from alternate sources such as increased sales, advertising, or corporate branding.

Recovery Model: Fees are set to offset operational, maintenance, and/or installation costs, and to insulate you from spikes in costs from increased utilization. Fees are typically set as a price per kilowatt-hour of electricity delivered, per unit of time, or per charging session.

Business Model: A fee is charged to potentially generate profit from the sale of charging services (though most revenue from charging stations is derived from other purchases users make while charging, much like convenience stores where gasoline is a loss-leader for other purchases made inside the stores). Fees are typically set as a price per kilowatt-hour of electricity delivered, per unit of time, or per charging session.

Site Host: Some charging companies will enter site-host agreements where they own and operate chargers on your property. This allows you to offer the convenience of chargers to your customers and employees without taking on the responsibility of ownership and maintenance.

> SOURCE: Atlas Public Policy

TYPES AND COSTS OF EV CHARGING STATIONS.

Currently, there are three different types of charging stations available. Pricing can vary significantly based on the level of charging station. Additional cost considerations include, but are not limited to, infrastructure costs, warranty and maintenance agreements, relevant signage, painted parking spots that identify them as EV charging spaces, safety bollards, etc.

There are many cost considerations to address, and they vary widely depending upon your specific situation. Making informed choices based on your specific needs, location, and customers or employees will lead to a better user experience and can potentially reduce project costs. PSO can work with you to help guide you in making the most cost-efficient charging choice for your business, based on all the factors. Want to learn more? Contact us at pev@aep.com.

Before you dive into what type of charger to get, think about when you do and don’t need a full charge. Unlike traditional ICE vehicles, EVs don’t always prefer a full charge. In fact, your dealership will tell you to only charge your car to 80% – 90% to help extend the life of your battery. Most EV drivers only charge fully if they’re going on a long road trip. This is a significant behavior shift in EV ownership.

As for which type of charger is right for you, that depends upon your specific situation. Each type has an ideal use case. Think of it like this: a microwave, an oven, and a slow cooker are each a useful tool, but using the right tool for a given situation will lead to the best results. Just like microwaving your Thanksgiving turkey will lead to unhappy guests, putting a level 3 charger in a situation that really needs level 2 chargers (or a level 2 charger when a level 3 is needed) could lead to frustration among users.

LEVEL 1

120 volt

Essentially a charging cable that comes standard with many EVs, this allows the car to charge from a standard electrical outlet. They work well in homes, especially for plug-in hybrids with smaller batteries. Some EV drivers use them as well, but this is not a solution recommended for commercial applications.

LEVEL 2

240 volt

These 240-volt stations could be provided as a convenience to customers or pay-to-use. Full charging times: 3 hours or less for smaller batteries. 6-10 hours for larger batteries.

LEVEL 3

480 volt

These DC fast-charging stations are the quickest but also the most expensive stations to install and use. Approximate charging times: 5 minutes to 1 hour.

Hover to read

?

What type of charger best suits your business? Don’t assume you need Level 3 chargers. It depends on a number of factors, such as how fast does it need to charge (how long do customers/employees stay at your place of business) or do users need a full charge or just a top-off?

Take a look at this blog from our partners at EverCharge on the use cases for LEVEL 2 versus LEVEL 3 charging.

> SOURCE: Future Energy, PSO

Ready to learn more?

LET’S TALK EVs VIEW PSO EV RATES

Annual Maintenance Costs of EV Charging Stations.

After the initial purchase of a commercial charging station, there are additional costs associated with maintenance. These costs can vary for several reasons from the type of charging station you select to the number of ports that are installed per site. They can range anywhere from a few hundred dollars per port per year to well over a thousand per port per year. Most charging station vendor networks also offer a maintenance plan for an additional annual fee, as well as service and product warranties

> SOURCE: U.S. Department of Energy

Want To Dive Deeper? PSO Can Help.

While there are many things to consider, including the power capacity of your current electrical infrastructure, what type of charger you need, selecting a charger vendor, charger placement, allocated parking, getting power to your chargers, and more, PSO can help provide answers. Simply click the link below to start the conversation.

Take a look at this white paper from EverCharge on the factors contributing to your total cost of deployment and how you can lower your cost, complexity and time to deployment.

LET’S TALK EVs

The Benefits of EV Fleets.

Uber, Walmart, Amazon, Frito Lay-PepsiCo, and FedEx are just a few of the companies that have announced plans to electrify with their fleets. Small- and medium-sized fleets are taking advantage of the benefits associated with transitioning to EVs. With proper planning, these companies are offsetting the higher initial investment in the vehicles themselves and taking advantage of benefits including:

Lower total cost of ownership
- With good planning, electricity is cheaper than gas and diesel
- EVs have fewer breakdowns and require less maintenance
Enhanced vehicle performance and efficiencies
Reduced carbon emissions
Enhanced sustainability
Positive public image

> SOURCE: Tridens Technology, J.D. Power ZappyRide

LET’S TALK EV FLEETS

Which EVs will Work for My Fleet?

A detailed analysis of your fleet will empower you to confidently add electric vehicles in successful applications, saving you money without impacting your operations. Learn which EV models are available for purchase today and the optimal model for your fleet’s use. Understand charging needs on a per vehicle and per site basis to optimize your charging strategy and maximize fuel savings. With the proper strategy, fleets of all sizes can benefit from electrification. Let us guide your electrification strategy based on your operations and what is most important to your organization.

Take a look at this case study from Sawatch Labs on how a public utility determined which of their 490 On-road Vehicles are Candidates for Electrification

Planning For EV Fleet Charging.

Want to find out if an EV will meet your drivers’ needs? Want to know where, when, and how much each vehicle will need to charge? We have partnered with PSO to provide fleet electrification and charging planning analytics to their customers through the PSO EV program. There are many variables to consider, and planning in advance ensures you can optimize your electricity use, determine which fleet tariff offerings work best for your business, and identify the types of chargers you should use. Sawatch labs and PSO can work with you through every step. Simply click the link below to start the conversation.

We can determine exactly what your charging needs will be based on your fleet operations, including:

Where you will need chargers
When each vehicle will charge
How many chargers will be needed at each location
Peak charging demand

For fleets with drivers that will charge at public stations or with take-home EVs, it will be important to monitor and reimburse for charging transactions just as they do for traditional fuels like gasoline and diesel.

Contact Us LET’S TALK EV FLEETS