Last week, I asked a few questions about networked EV charging to show how it benefits you as a business owner installing charging. Today, I’ll turn to the other side of the fence—er, station—and show you why networked charging is better for the drivers you hope to attract to your business.
Do you want EV drivers to be able to find your stations and see if they’re being used?
If your station is not networked, drivers don’t know that it exists and is available for them to use—unless they just happen to drive by and spot it, or unless you spend some time and money to market the station. A networked solution literally puts you on the map in the ChargePoint app, many in-dash navigation systems and even Apple Maps on every iPhone. This lets EV drivers easily find your station in an app, see if it’s available and navigate to your location to charge. Then, they can do some shopping, grab a bite to eat or stroll through your city while charging.
Do you want to get most the effective support for your drivers?
Helping EV drivers can take up time that would be better spent focusing on your business. Make sure your charging provider includes support services with your EV charging solution, and keep in mind that driver support is much more effective with networked solutions. A support agent can remotely unlock a networked station to help someone start charging. Support staff for non-networked stations can only give advice, not fix problems in the moment. Networked solutions also enable ongoing remote monitoring that keeps stations up and running for drivers to use.
Do you want to help more drivers charge, for less money?
Access to charging makes people more likely to drive electric, so installing stations can quickly increase demand for charging. Networked charging solutions enable simple, effective approaches to letting more people charge with your existing stations and infrastructure. Waitlist lets drivers get in a virtual line to charge, Power Management allows you to install more stations than your rated capacity and pricing encourages drivers to move on after they’re done charging. Without these smart features, a single driver might monopolize your station all day and block others from charging, or you could end up paying extra to install additional electrical capacity for more stations.
Do you want your drivers to get along with each other?
It’s easy to encourage EV etiquette with appropriate pricing policies. Setting your charging fees to increase after an hour or two can motivate drivers to move on once their vehicle is charged, making the stations available for others to use. Or, enable Waitlist to manage high demand for EV charging. Without these features, one driver might end up using your station all day, which isn't ideal for anyone.
Do you want your stations to get new features automatically?
Networked stations keep getting better with new features like tap to charge that help make charging even easier and attract more drivers, without additional effort or expense on your part. Non-networked stations just stay the same as the day you installed them. Or, worse, you have to rip them out and replace them to get any new features at all—an expensive endeavor.
Starting to see the benefits of getting smart? Contact us to discuss how networked charging can help your business attract EV drivers.
