Go from parking lot to next-gen mobility hub with EV charging

An electric revolution is transforming the way people drive, fuel up, and park. No one will be more impacted by the societal shift from gas cars to electric vehicles than owners and operators of commercial parking facilities.

Electric cars are swiftly becoming more accessible, affordable, and attractive to the mainstream consumer. Advances in battery technology are enabling EV drivers to travel much further on a single charge, at a cost that’s increasingly competitive with gas-car ownership. And it’s not just personal cars. Electrification is happening with entire fleets of commercial vehicles, delivery vans, ride-shares, and scooters.  

Already, 1.6 million EV drivers are on U.S. roads. By 2030, more Americans are expected to be buying electric cars than gas-powered ones. California, home to one out of every eight U.S. residents, will eliminate all in-state sales of gas cars by 2035.

It all adds up to an enormous opportunity for parking owners and operators to benefit from the EV revolution and to move it forward. 

That’s because the growing number of EV drivers need many more places where they can park their vehicles and plug them into chargers while they go about their day.

What EV drivers want from parking

Whereas gas-car drivers will typically wait until they’re below a quarter tank to fill up, EV drivers have a different mindset: They want to consistently maintain as close to a full charge as possible. To do so, they may seek out several chargers in a single day. In fact, one-quarter to more than one-third of EV charging happens away from home, when drivers park and plug into charging stations while they’re at work, shopping, out to eat, or doing any number of things. 

EV drivers will go out of their way to park in lots and garages that offer EV charging. That makes hosting EV charging a major differentiator for your facility that will put you on drivers’ maps — literally. A number of popular smartphone apps exist to help drivers identify and map their route to the nearest charging stations. 

Currently, however, there’s a vast gap between the supply of charging stations and driver demand for them. The ideal ratio is one public EV charging station for every four EVs on the road. An additional 300,000 charging stations are needed today to meet that ratio — a gap that’s expected to widen to 1.3 million by 2025. 

* Parking lot illustration and screens: image courtesy of FlashParking

Rewards of adding EV charging

Parking owners and operators who step in now to fill the charging station gap stand to reap early and lasting rewards: 

• Your parking facility will become a more attractive destination for new and current customers. With early EV adopters already searching the streets looking for charging locations, and more drivers switching to EVs every year, garages and lots that offer charging are at an immediate advantage to capture new customers and keep them around.
• You’ll add a revenue stream that will continue to grow. Attracting new customers to your parking facility is only one way to use charging stations to generate revenue. With networked charging stations, you can set up pricing and charge customers to plug into your stations.
• You’ll help your community and the environment. By making EV charging more accessible, you can accelerate the rate at which people in your area make the switch to EVs and help to kickstart a massive transportation transformation that will have lasting impacts on our planet for generations. You’ll also be helping to create more drivers to frequent your charging stations, which will serve as  tangible proof of your commitment to sustainability. 
• You’ll evolve your business and stay a step ahead of the competition. You’ll join other pioneers in your industry who are adopting new technologies to transform their parking assets into connected “mobility hubs” that can satisfy customers who are demanding more services, such as EV charging, from their parking locations.

* Image courtesy of FlashParking

At EVBox, we think charging a car should be as easy as finding a parking spot. To that end, we’ve spent ten years improving EV charging technology and building a global infrastructure for electric vehicles. Our newest charging station model, the easy-to-use and flexible EVBox Iqon, was designed for commercial and public sites, including parking locations. 

Given all that, it just made sense to partner with another mobility leader —  FlashParking — to make it easy for parking owners and operators to add EV charging to their lots and garages. 

FlashParking’s parking management system integrates seamlessly with EVBox software and charging stations. This system ensures that parking owners and operators can meet the charging needs of EV drivers, maximize the value of their parking assets, and evolve their facilities into next-generation mobility hubs.

A mobility hub “has the ability to do more for existing customers than just parking, like providing EV charging or last-mile transport with a private fleet of scooters. The facility also can transform in ‘off’ hours to stay productive with fleet charging and servicing, ride-share staging or as a delivery and logistics hub,” says Neil Golson, executive vice president for marketing and strategic partnerships at FlashParking.

Neil Golson
EVP, Marketing and Strategic Partnerships
FlashParking

Neil estimates that the value of each consumer transaction within a parking facility can triple when owners and operators offer diverse mobility solutions, like EV charging. The time is ripe for this transformation, he says. 

“With the life disruption we've all felt from COVID-19, we have a massive opportunity to shape new habits through technology and go beyond parking to harness existing demand, diversify revenue, and transform isolated parking assets to connected mobility hubs,” Neil says. 

Download the eBook!
For more information about EVBox’s partnership with FlashParking and what it means for your parking assets, download the eBook “Lead the Charge."

Advantages to starting now

With parking assets already in your portfolio, you’re more ready than most businesses to host EV charging. That’s because EV charging requires key ingredients that parking owners and operators already possess: undisrupted space in garages and surface lots, convenient locations, and access to electric power.

Eventually, as the number of EVs grows, every parking facility will need to install charging stations. Adding EV charging now enables you to get an early slice of the revenue pie and lock in your reputation as a parking-and-charging destination — ahead of your competition. What’s more, if you add EV charging now, you may be eligible for current tax credits and utility rebates that can dramatically reduce the cost of your initial investment. So, not only will you have an advantage over your competitors by attracting EV drivers earlier, you will have spent significantly less for your equipment than those who chose to wait.