The vast majority of people across the country rely on gasoline-powered automobiles as their primary mode of transportation. The issue with this is that fossil fuels are non-renewable sources of energy that also contribute to atmospheric harm through the emissions that vehicles release as they burn fuel. Experts have recognized that we need to move away from the current status quo, and so hybrid and electric cars are becoming more common. And because of this, electric car charging stations are also becoming more common. Hybrids provide a comfortable step in the right direction by reducing the amount of gas that they need, while fully electric cars don’t give off any air pollution at all. Electric vehicles also have the potential to be far more sustainable in that people can generate electricity from renewable sources of energy rather than solely by way of fossil fuels.
People with electric cars need places all over their local areas where they can replenish their power, though. As a business or property owner, you can work to make electric vehicles more feasible for people by including EV charging stations in your parking areas. Consider the benefits of EV charging stations in parking garages and figure out if you want to include them as part of your property. They will allow you to aid the planet while also helping you in the following ways as well. It’s a win-win situation that may be well worth the investment.
Encourage Better Sustainability for the Environment
Let’s start off with the most obvious benefit of adding charging stations to your parking area—relieving the environment of contamination while conserving its finite resources. Many are aware of the ecological problems that society causes and may even already take steps to leave less of a negative impact from their individual lifestyles. Having electric vehicle charging stations will serve to further promote sustainability since you will provide another place for owners of electric cars to dependably stow away and charge their vehicles.
This works well for commercial properties like malls or office buildings, where people may need to replenish their vehicles’ power after a long drive. They can plug in their cars upon arriving and charge them while going about their business. Having an electric car charging station in your parking garage can also encourage people who are on the fence to make the switch to electric vehicles. Though visitors and employees may not need the electric car charging stations every time they arrive at these locations, having them there brings an added level of power security. People may in turn be more inclined to get electric cars and use them as a way to lower their daily emissions. The more commercial property owners who make charging stations available, the more feasible electric cars will become in general, and the population can slowly move further and further away from fossil fuel use.
Give Your Building a More Appealing Image
Tied in with supporting wider practices for greater sustainability, another benefit of EV charging stations in your parking garage is that they will give your building a more appealing image. People will notice that you are taking action in trying to go green and may be more inclined to support your business or choose your building as an office space depending on what kind of property you have. Those that are cognizant of environmental friendliness and want to aid those efforts in any possible way may hold your organization in higher regard. With more and more people seeking out ethically minded businesses, employee retention at your company or patron loyalty at your store may increase when you offer electric vehicle charging stations. If you’re a property owner, tenants will want to keep their companies running there since they can also reap the benefits of your building’s green amenities. Together with other decisions that keep the welfare of the environment in mind, the charging stations will communicate your concern for nature.
Increase Awareness About Your Business
Businesses are always looking for valuable avenues to increase their exposure to the general public and bring in more customers. EV charging stations can act as one such method for increasing awareness about your business. This is because people may search online for locations nearby that offer electric vehicle charging services. Since charging stations are not yet in large abundance everywhere, your business can stand out among competitors as a place where visitors can expect to see such amenities.
Moreover, there are applications that exist which show users where charging stations are in their area, such as PlugShare, ChargeHub, and even Google Maps. Your business can become a pinned site because it has charging stations and electric vehicle owners can easily get directions to it via those apps. Follow through with pleasant customer experience, and visitors will soon write positive reviews that further advocate for your business to others who live close by or who are passing through. With the initial draw of your charging stations, you can then continue to reel in an increasing number of patrons and increase sales of the main goods or services you provide.
Provide a Potential Source of Additional Revenue
If you want more than just a way to entice customers to your business, you can also use EV charging stations as a supplementary source of revenue. You can set a price that people pay for the electricity they receive while charging their vehicles at your stations. There are different ways to go about this. The most straightforward strategy you might go with is to keep the price constant whether the people using the charging stations are actually entering your place of business or not. To foster customer loyalty, you could also provide charging services for free to those who are actual patrons of your establishment while charging a fee for people who only use the electric car charging stations. In both scenarios, you stand to gain. If someone is a customer, you will be able to make sales. If someone comes only to charge their car, you still generate some income.
Now that you know about all the benefits that EV charging stations bring, incorporate them into your parking garage today by either installing them as separate units or getting semi-automatic parking systems that integrate electric vehicle charging features. Harding Steel provides the latter, so give us a call today if you are interested in maximizing space efficiency in your garage while also offering customers a way to charge their electric cars.
