Beyond Monetization: Why Canadian Businesses Should Install an EV Charger

Unlike other countries, in Canada businesses are not allowed to resell electricity by the kilowatt hour (kWh). This could be an issue for any business looking to install a charging station for electric vehicles (EVs), as it prevents them from monetizing the charging station itself.?

However, even without direct monetization available, there are still valid reasons Canadian businesses (or businesses in other countries where the sale of electricity by the kWh is verboten) may want to install an EV charging station on their premises.?

Types of EV charging stations

To understand why a business may go ahead with installing an EV charging station, it helps to know the different types of charging stations and how they work.?

Level 1

Typically, an EV will come with a Level 1 home charging unit, which the owner plugs directly into a standard 120V outlet. These are the slowest types of charging units and usually require several hours to fully charge a vehicle, adding approximately 8 km of range for each hour of charging. They don’t require any special setup.

Level 2

A Level 2 charger plugs into a 240V outlet, similar to what an oven, washing machine or dryer would plug into, or they can also be hardwired into an electrical system, which is how most businesses would likely have them installed.

They require a more advanced setup, typically by an electrician, and they allow for quicker charging than a Level 1 unit. They will generally recharge a battery in four to 10 hours, adding 30-50 km of range per hour, depending on the size of the vehicle battery.

Level 2 charging stations can either be standalone (non-networked) or they may belong to a network of stations (like how all Tesla charging stations belong to the Tesla network).?

They can be non-controllable, where they automatically split the available power evenly between all the vehicles using a circuit, or controllable, where you are able to have more control over how the available power is split.

DCFC

Standing for Direct Current Fast Charging, these units require a 480v direct current connection and they can charge an EV in about half-an-hour, supplying over 100 km in range per charging hour.?

While a business may want to invest in a more costly DCFC if they have a fleet of EVs, for businesses that just want to have one or two for customers and/or employees, standalone or networked Level 2 chargers hardwired into their electrical system are likely going to be their best bet.?

Why install one?

Currently, Measurement Canada is consulting with EV charging device manufacturers, EV charging station operators and consumers to develop requirements that will allow EV charging station operators to bill customers based on the amount of electricity consumed during the charging process, Sophy Lambert-Racine, a spokesperson with Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada, said in a statement.

She added that Measurement Canada hopes to have those guidelines in place soon.?

“Measurement Canada is expected to introduce in the fall 2022 requirements for the approval of certain types of newly designed EV charging devices that charge customers by kWh,” Lambert-Racine said.

Until then, though, businesses have to install the charging stations for other reasons, such as:?

To increase marketability and seem forward thinking

As the effects of human-caused climate change continue to ravage the earth, more and more consumers are choosing to do business with companies that put environmental consciousness near the top of their values list.?

Installing an EV charging station is a great way to signal to consumers that your business cares about green energy initiatives.?

Aside from environmental concerns, customers who like being on the cutting edge of new technology may also appreciate businesses with an early adopter mindset.?

“Right now, people are at the innovators stage of the consumer cycle,” said Marc Beghin, who owns EasyEV, which sells EV charging units in Winnipeg. “So, businesses are putting them in to get ahead of the curve to satisfy sustainability initiatives, to satisfy marketing initiatives.”

These businesses will generally let customers (or sometimes anyone) use the chargers for free, as they’re not really looking to gain any kind of revenue from them. It’s more for reputational purposes.

One of the ways installing an EV charger actually can lead to an increase in revenue is when customers who wouldn't normally shop or do business somewhere stop just to use the charger and end up spending money in the business because they don’t have anything else to do while their vehicle is being charged.

To help attract talent

It’s not just customers businesses are looking to attract with the installation of EV chargers. Potential employees may choose one company over another if they know they can charge their EV while at work.

A workplace is somewhere that a car may conceivably sit for several hours at a time. Knowing that their vehicle is being charged instead of just sitting in a parking lot may sway some potential employees to pick the place where they know something productive is being done with their vehicle during that time instead of it just sitting and doing nothing.

To help procure contracts

When a vendor is vying for a contract from a government or another entity, meeting certain criteria may make the vendor more attractive for doing business with. Items like equity initiatives or anti-harassment policies, for example, may make a company more likely to procure a contract from the government, Beghin said.?

In the future, strong environmental and sustainability initiatives are likely going to help companies win contracts, he added, and having one or more EV chargers in place are strong sustainability initiatives that may sway the contract in their direction.

To collect revenue

Even though a business cannot resell electricity, there are still ways they can monetize their chargers.

Beghin said some businesses rent the parking spot by the time used rather than the electricity consumed. However, he noted, monetization by this method would take so long to turn a profit that it would not really be worth it if generating revenue was a business’ main goal.

The only way this would be valid for generating revenue, he continued, would be if a business had a bank of chargers installed and actively marketed themselves as a place people could charge their vehicles.

On their website, Measurement Canada suggests businesses can charge a flat fee per use of the charger or include the charging price in the amount of another service (like including it in the price of using the parking space) if they want to monetize their chargers.

To facilitate an EV fleet

For businesses that have vehicle fleets, the obvious reason to install EV chargers would be to facilitate making their fleet all electric. The upfront costs of having an all-electric fleet would be more than internal combustion engine (ICE) fleets, but the fuel and maintenance savings in the long run would offset that cost and ultimately be more affordable than running an ICE fleet.?

According to a study published by the predictive analytics and data company We Predict, titled “Deepview True Cost Second Owner Study (SOS),” after three years on the road, EVs have 30% less in maintenance fees than ICE vehicles.?

We Predict measured actual money spent by owners and manufacturers of 2018-model-year vehicles during their first three years on the road for the study, which was released in October 2021.?

“The data bears out what many hoped would be true,” We Predict Founder and CEO James Davies said in a press release about the study. “While EV service costs are higher than their gas counterparts early in ownership, the cumulative service costs for EVs fall over time to 30% less than gas vehicles at three years on the road – primarily due to lower maintenance costs.”

Business owners looking to change their fleets from ICE to EVs may want to opt for the DCFC type of charging stations, as it’s capable of charging vehicles quickly. Or, they may choose a mixture of DCFC and Level 2 chargers, as fleet vehicles that are not being used at night could utilize a Level 2 charger to top up while they sit overnight.

Because it’s the right thing to do

According to the most recent United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, released this past April, scientists have given the dire warning that it is “now or never” to limit global warming to the 1.5 degrees Celsius agreed to in the Paris Accord in 2015.?

Switching to EVs and having less dependence on fossil fuels is one way countries can help lessen the catastrophic effects of human-caused climate change.?

Considering this, installing an EV charger at your business would help grow EV infrastructure in the country, helping to facilitate the all-important switch from ICE vehicles to EVs.

That was the apparent thought process for Edmond Financial Group president Paul Edmond back in 2016 when he had an EV charging unit installed at his business on Academy Road in Winnipeg.?

At that time, it was such a unique endeavour for a small business to install an EV charging unit that the CBC did a news story on its installation.?

In a recent interview, managing director for Edmond Financial Group Inc. Maureen Fergus said that as a "forward-thinking financial services company with a passion for sustainability and a commitment to helping make our community – and our world – a better place," Edmond Financial Group felt that installing EV chargers was important.

"Installing EV chargers was a way to put our money where our mouths were, so moving forward on this made good sense," Fergus said, "particularly after Paul Edmond became one of the first people in the province to purchase a Tesla"

Fergus added that usage of the chargers has increased over the past five years.

"These days, we regularly see people using our chargers," the managing director noted.

While direct monetization is still a ways off for Canadian businesses, installing an EV charging station can still be worth the cost if it helps them attract new customers, garner a forward-thinking reputation, assists in procuring contracts, or makes switching to an all electric fleet easier.