7 Amenities Every EV Charging Station Needs - Dialectic Engineering

Electric Vehicle Industry Growth

Developing easy-to-make, reliable electric vehicles (EV) has been a challenge of the automotive industry since the first successful EVs hit the roads in the late s. Beginning with a resurgence in the s, the EV industry has developed to the point that they are common to find in any city, growing from 2.1 million cars sold globally in to an expected 14 million in .

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The U.S. is developing the infrastructure needed to supply power to these cars as a result of the rise in EV sales both domestically and around the world. According to the U.S. Department of Energy, the number of electric vehicle charging stations has risen from 6,200 stations with just fewer than 15,000 charging ports in to more than 53,000 stations with more than 140,000 available charging ports.

Commercial charging stations can be a lucrative business venture, provided you consider the customer experience while charging. We’ve made a list of additional amenities to add to your EV charging station to win business and keep your charging customers happy. If you are looking to develop a reliable and engaging electric vehicle charging station, contact us today!

Features to Help Build Your EV Charging Station Business

1. Safe and Reliable Vehicle Charging

Ultimately, EV owners want to have a safe and reliable charging experience. Because charging station standards and regulations are constantly developing, EV charging station providers need to continually improve their products to keep up with changing regulations and improving technologies to better serve their growing customer bases.

2. Car Cleaning Stations and Trash Bins

“Refueling” your car at an EV charging station provides a great opportunity for owners to take the time to clean out their cars. EV charging stations should have readily available trash, recycling and composting receptacles. If you want your charging station to stand out, consider providing additional cleaning accessories like fresh water, glass cleaner, squeegees, cleaning wipes, disposable cloths and hand sanitizer. Charging stations with a wider range of cleaning accessories will attract more customers who will be looking for a good use of their time while charging their cars.

3. Food and Drink Options for Owners

Just like any good gas station, an EV charging station needs to offer food and drinks for purchase. If the station acts as a large-scale public station, consider adding a drink machine, sweet and salty snacks and hot-roller foods like hot dogs and taquitos. If your charging station is more private, perhaps in your business’s parking garage, consider adding drink and snack vending machines.

4. Charging Station Restrooms

Whether on a long road trip or running a few errands around town, an EV charging station is a stopping point for people on the go – and sometimes when you’re on the go, you need to go. Providing restrooms for your customers at an EV charging station gives them one less thing to think about. With easily available restrooms, EV owners can avoid making another stop during their travels.

5. Open Space

Even with high-powered Level 2 and DC Fast Charging stations, EV owners will inevitably have to wait for their cars to get to the charge level they need. Outside of using the restroom, cleaning out their cars and stopping in for a snack and drink, people crave space. Create an open area near your EV charging station where customers can sit and read, eat a few snacks or take their dogs out of the backseat for a quick walk. Include accessible seating areas and other amenities such as a pet relief station, kids play area or filtered water fountains.

6. Public WiFi at EV Charging Stations

Charging electric vehicles takes time. Provide internet access for customers to use for entertainment or knock out a few work emails during their downtime. By providing internet access, customers will be able to save valuable data and roaming costs while they charge their cars.

7. Entertainment

EV charging stations can provide convenience where traditional gas stations cannot. Because it may take up to an hour to get a full charge on an electric vehicle, customers have available time to spend while their vehicle charges. This gives EV charging station providers a unique opportunity to engage with customers for longer than usual. Consider adding interactive games, TVs or other attractions to keep your customer’s attention.

Amenities at Charging Stations Everywhere

EV charging stations are becoming increasingly important as the number of electric vehicles continues to rise across the country. As our EV infrastructure catches up with that of the gas-powered vehicle industry, private companies will continue to compete by improving the amenities at charging stations alongside upgrades to evolving charging technology.

Software solutions are a critical component when it comes to successfully running an electric vehicle charging business. But your ability to wade through the variety of EV charging software and platforms on the market will depend largely on your understanding of your system and the needs of both your management team and your end users. There are many different features to choose from, and different applications of EV technology will need some more than others. In this article, we’ll examine the most popular electric vehicle charging network applications and then explore how they map onto the six features you should look for in EV charging software and platforms.

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Why do you need EV charging software?

The first step to finding the best electric vehicle software solution for you is to understand your use case. Before you can evaluate any platform’s features, you need to have a clear grasp of how you’ll be using the system. When you’re ready for best-in-class EV charging management software, ChargeLab can help. In the meantime, these are some of the most common applications that make critical use of EV charging software and platforms:

Fleet

From rideshare providers to shipping and logistics companies, keeping electric vehicles charged is just one of the important elements of running an eco-conscious fleet. EV software can help managers orchestrate the many moving parts that go into fleet management, every step of the way. Fleet managers need to be able to oversee both on-the-road events and what happens at unified depots or distributed charging points. That visibility allows them to ensure every vehicle is charged or has access to a charger, distribute power consumption to protect the grid, and optimize schedules to reduce costs as much as possible.

Multi-family

In multi-family environments, EV infrastructure has to cater to regular consumers living their everyday lives as opposed to professional drivers who are charging on the job. That means the EV charging software in place needs to be intuitive and user-friendly for residents of apartment buildings, multi-family homes, and other residential complexes. Access management is a critical way to make sure individual users can gain access and see accurate pricing, while also strengthening security protocols and deterring unauthorized users at specific charging stations or on the system overall.

Commercial

Commercial applications of EV charging networks are the broadest of these three use cases. Designed to be accessible to the public, the software supporting commercial charging systems has to combine high-level management capabilities with peak adaptability. In order to ensure both real-time usability and long-term sustainability of charging hardware, commercial managers should prioritize user management features, load balancing and energy oversight, in addition to a variety of robust and secure payment options.

6 top features to look for in EV charging software and platforms

#1: User management

User management is one of the few EV charging software features that applies to virtually every use case. No matter who is plugging into your EV chargers, how many users you’re supporting, or when and how they use your system, you need to be able to manage their access and facilitate their unique interactions. For many managers, the best way to tackle different user types is by sorting them into groups that receive predetermined permissions. This can help distinguish between residents, employees, public users, or any other configuration of access levels that’s appropriate for your business.

#2: Hardware management

Hardware monitoring allows managers to keep charging stations operational around the clock, so it also supports most EV infrastructure applications. Real-time notifications about network issues or faults with physical chargers allow for rapid response times that prevent noticeable service interruptions. For fleet managers and distributed charging network operators, broad compatibility is also an important hardware feature to look for; finding back-end software that works with most major charge point manufacturers will keep your operations centralized and streamlined no matter how much your EV charging stations business grows.

#3: Fleet operations

As its name suggests, the fleet operations feature is most relevant for the fleet application of EV technology. Managers need access to a central hub where they can oversee everything from individual vehicle or driver issues to delivery schedules and hardware monitoring at depots to user management across distributed charging networks. While managers working from corporate offices need full access to fleet-specific features, it’s also important for dispatchers, technicians, and drivers to have access to the fleet-related features that allow them to get their jobs done wherever they are.

#4: Energy management

Power consumption impacts EV charging hardware as much as it does a company’s bottom line. Energy management features should offer dynamic load distribution based on charger type, user level, and in-the-moment electricity prices to optimize the flow of electricity and the costs of continued service. Protecting the grid and preventing power outages is an added concern for multi-family and commercial managers, since the buildings their charging stations serve have electricity needs and energy protocols of their own.

#5: Payment processing

The ability to process payments reliably and securely is a key component for any publicly accessible EV charging network. Whether your users are residents, employees, frequent visitors, or one-time guests, your charging software needs to accept a range of payment options to support your income potential. User management also goes hand-in-hand with payment processing, since different user groups are often offered different payment plans or price points based on their usage or their association with your company.

#6: White labeling

White labeling is a priority feature for consumer-facing applications of EV infrastructure, since managers need to be able to provide their users with a fully branded experience. Residential properties, corporate facilities, and commercial centers can all benefit from putting their branding front and center, ensuring that users know they’re using a trusted system provided by an entity they’re already doing business with. As electric vehicles become a more popular and widely accepted way to combat climate change and protect the environment, EV network managers can also benefit from a reputation boost by associating their branding with the future of green energy.

When it comes to running your EV charging stations business, choosing the right software will be a function of your system’s unique needs. ChargeLab’s best-in-class electric vehicle charging management software is hardware-agnostic and custom-built to satisfy any number of popular use cases, from multi-family and commercial networks to full EV fleets. Contact us today to get started.

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