Getting your retailers to put charging stations in their lots

My local EV chapter, EVolveKY has had some small success at this because as a non-prophet we can partner with them and have them sponsor our charger which gives them a tax break to offset the high initial cost.

 

A few stores have installed charging stations. However they are not free and are way too expensive to use.

 

I changed my Costco membership early this year from Executive to Regular in anticipation of the Clarity. The 1st thing they asked was why, I told them I am getting a plug-in EV and they said don't hybrid run on gas? I spend 10 minutes explaining the difference between a regular hybrid and a PHEV and then I asked them to suggest to Costco Canada it might be a good idea to think about installing L2 charger in their parking lot. If they charge like $2 a session (City of Ottawa charges $4 per session in park and ride location for L2). Not sure if anything will come out of it though

 

It helps to have a local group suggest it, rather than an individual. It also helps to make a business case; for example, a charge station will help draw customers. Showing the owner an app like https://www.plugshare.com can also help, both because they can see how many places are doing it (peer pressure) and they can see the app can help drive (ha, ha) customers to their business. It also helps to point out that costs can be significantly reduced if the station is installed during other renovation/construction work. For example, a local theater installed 2 stations when repaving the parking lot and putting in new sidewalks.

 

Whenever I park at a public station I make it a point to thank the manager and explain that I chose their establishment since they have a charger. The 50cents to a dollar in electricity they provide translates into increased business.

 

Other mfg like BMW and Nissan have free charging for at least 2 years. Honda chose not to. I think Hyundai does as well.

 

Hyundai in Canada does not have free charging. When I was looking in the Ioniq EV last year, I specifically ask about that as I read about Nissan is (actually I am not sure if Nissan Canada have free charging either) and the sales manager said no to that

 

I started asking for my local blood bank to install charger(s) back in 2011 when I purchased my first EV. They plan to start installation in a month or so. A blood bank's primary need is frequent donors. I'm well known there and bring up EV chargers whenever I can. Looks like it just took seven years.

 

There's always Volta Charging. If it's mutually beneficial, then they could put up their advertising charging site.

http://voltacharging.com

 

Businesses pay for electricity at a much lower price, even at my work they are trying to make a profit on it. Seems pretty sad...

I asked one of my work buddies what our studio pays for electricity and he said .04 cents a kilowatt, but they charge .20 cents a kilowatt on the work chargers, smh...

 

When I was at Honda dealer, getting the HV service done, I asked why they don't have one on site. They didn't have an answer for me. After service, I went next door to Nissan dealership which has one and plug in just so I can kill time for traffic to subside. I was told by my friend at Nissan dealership that commercial charge station cost about $100k to install. That's why a lot of place don't have them as much as we want them too. The regulations surrounding commercial charge stations are a lot more pain in *** then simply buying the plug on Amazon and wire it up.

 

I think the cost of installation is likely more than the equipment cost for outdoor commercial installs.

One thing I did see at a private company was that they just provided outlets, like 230 v, for employees.

 

100k seems pretty high the commercial units (https://smartchargeamerica.com/electric-car-chargers/commercial/chargepoint-ct4021/) are only 7k. Even with an electrician and wiring, etc it has to be around 20k.


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We have 5 at work but can only use 3 due to political red tape - the other two are reserved for facilities vehicles... The only thing they got was a couple of golf carts that can charge with 120. They were actually trying to retrofit them to be able to charge with the level 2 chargers. Ridiculous...

The person in charge of them says she's trying to install more chargers since it's 10 cars currently. But she needs about 20K to get another 5 in. No budget for now...

 

Thankfully I am very fortunate living in Kansas City as we have the most chargers per capita of any city in the country. Over 1000 charging stations and 75% are free. My only small complaint is that I wished chargers were installed in the back of lots instead of in prime locations. That would really cut down on spots getting ICED. Also they are usually in banks of 3 of six. When it is a station that only has 2 I try to always park a spot over and I have a hang tag indicating that I am opportunity charging and that an EV can unplug me if they need to charge.


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