No two workplaces are alike. Some companies offer open spaces, ping pong tables and free-roaming dogs, while others are buttoned up like a three-piece suit, where folks get work done quietly behind closed doors. I’ve worked with both types of organizations and every kind in between and I can tell you, no matter your workplace culture, EV charging helps businesses attract, engage and retain top talent. It’s no surprise then, that nearly one in four of Fortune’s “Top 100 Places to Work” is already a ChargePoint customer.
As EV sales grow, EV charging is fast becoming a must-have amenity for the modern workplace. After working with hundreds of companies to help make EV charging a part of their recruitment and retention efforts, I’ve seen firsthand how ChargePoint solutions help create an engaged EV driver community at work. Here’s how three leading brands are making EV charging work for their employees.
“Good Neighbor Policy” Keeps EV Drivers Happy at Cisco
An impressive 3,000+ Cisco employees have registered their EVs with the company, motivating the employer to develop a ”Good Neighbor Policy” to help make charging work for everyone. ChargePoint Waitlist manages the company’s 300+ charging spots, helping keep drivers charged and relaxed. To register an EV at Cisco, drivers must agree to be good neighbors, so everyone is confident they won’t be left stranded at work. “The rules spell out the expectations, which basically entails being courteous to fellow EV drivers, so everyone can get a charge, and not leave work with range anxiety,” says Cori Brown, who oversees the program. In addition to Waitlist, Cisco has an active internal EV driver community, she says. "Enthusiasm for EVs has become contagious as more and more employees purchase them." I’ve seen the same thing at ChargePoint – even people who don’t drive electric when they start are won over by the convenience of charging at work.
“Enthusiasm for EVs has become contagious as more and more employees purchase them.” – Cori Brown
Informatica Integrates Its EV Drivers
Informatica, a data integration company in the Bay Area, uses our Waitlist feature to encourage EV drivers to move their cars once they’re charged so everybody has a chance to fuel up, minimizing stress on the evening commute. If all the charging spots are busy when a driver gets to work, she can just join Waitlist in the ChargePoint app to receive an alert when a spot opens up. Waitlist helps build a sense of community and responsibility among EV drivers at Informatica, says the company’s Chief Trust Officer Bill Burns. “When Waitlist says, ‘You need to move your car — there are seven people waiting,’ you think, ‘Oh, it’s not just me,’” he says. The egalitarian system—no cutting in line for execs—also alleviates the need for Informatica to maintain an internal email list or some other way for drivers to communicate internally. We use Waitlist here at ChargePoint, too, and I can’t tell you how much I appreciate the convenience of getting alerts when it’s my turn to charge.
Adobe Engages Employees with EV Charging
Adobe offers EV charging as an employee benefit at multiple office locations as part of its commuter program. Driving an EV can help employees cut down on commuting costs, times and stress and helps build a sense of camaraderie and purpose among drivers that helps contribute to company culture and employee satisfaction. Once employees get to work, they can count on ChargePoint to get them charged up before they go home, says Scott Hiller, who manages site operations at Adobe. "The ChargePoint stations are very user friendly. Drivers can either charge right when they get to work, or they're put in a queue and notified when they can charge,” he says.
“The ChargePoint stations are very user friendly. Drivers can either charge right when they get to work, or they're put in a queue and notified when they can charge.” – Scott Hiller, Site Operations, Adobe
These brands demonstrate that workplace EV charging is a valuable benefit that attracts top talent, keeps them engaged and makes them more likely to stick around. Not only that, they’ve discovered that it’s a two-way street: By offering EV charging at work, employees are 6X more likely to drive an EV today and 20X more likely to make the switch to electric down the road. That’s the kind of forward-thinking innovation we all should applaud.
If you’re interested in offering EV charging to employees or residents, check out our webinar on Best Practices for Deploying EV Charging Stations at Commercial Buildings, co-hosted with ENERGY STAR.
