Electric vehicle drivers plan charging around the places they already intend to visit. Hotels, wineries, restaurants, caravan parks and tourist attractions can give customers a useful service by allowing them to charge while they stay, dine or explore.
For the business, destination charging may improve the visitor experience, help attract EV-driving customers and demonstrate a practical commitment to lower-emissions transport. Those benefits depend on installing the right type of charging and managing it properly.
A charger that is too slow for the visit, difficult to access or regularly unavailable will not create a good customer experience. Before installing equipment, the venue should understand how drivers will use it and what the site can support.
Begin with customer dwell time
The length of a typical visit is one of the most important factors in charger selection.
A hotel guest may be parked overnight, a winery visitor may stay for several hours, and a restaurant customer may remain for one or two hours. These customers may be well served by AC charging because the vehicle has time to receive useful energy while the driver is at the venue.
DC fast charging is more relevant where the business wants to serve drivers making a short stop or where rapid vehicle turnover is important. It can deliver substantially more energy in a shorter period, but it also requires greater electrical capacity, larger equipment and a different commercial model.
The right question is not simply, “What is the fastest charger available?” It is, “How much energy should a typical customer receive during their visit?”
Decide what the charging service is meant to achieve
Different venues install charging for different reasons. The objective may be to:
- provide an amenity for guests or customers;
- attract EV drivers travelling through the region;
- encourage customers to stay longer;
- generate direct charging revenue;
- support company or delivery vehicles; or
- meet a sustainability or property requirement.
The objective affects charger speed, location, pricing and access. A complimentary hotel charger reserved for guests needs a different system from a public fast charger promoted to passing motorists.
Be realistic about the business case. EV charging can influence where a driver chooses to stop, but it does not guarantee additional sales on its own. The strongest installations combine useful charging with a venue people already want to visit.
Check the site’s electrical capacity
Destination venues can have highly variable electrical demand. Commercial kitchens, heating and cooling, refrigeration, accommodation loads, pumps and event operations may all contribute to the site’s peak demand.
An electrical assessment should establish how much capacity is available, when it is available and whether charging can be managed around other loads. Where demand changes throughout the day, dynamic load management may allow charging power to be reduced during busy periods and increased when the site has more capacity available.
This can help the business avoid designing the system around the full output of every charger operating simultaneously. Depending on the site and the required charging service, electrical upgrades may still be necessary.
Choose how drivers will find, access and pay for charging
The customer experience begins before the vehicle is plugged in. Drivers need to know whether the charger is public, restricted to customers or available only during certain hours.
Consider:
- whether charging will be free, included with a booking or paid separately;
- whether users need an RFID card, mobile application or QR-code payment;
- whether the charger will be listed on public charging maps;
- whether car spaces can be reserved for active charging;
- who will assist customers if charging does not start; and
- whether the business needs transaction and usage reports.
If payment or public access is required, integration with a charge point operator should be considered at the design stage and included in the business case.
Location and presentation matter
Charging spaces should be easy to find without interfering with traffic flow, deliveries or accessible routes. Cable reach, kerbs, bollards, wheel stops, weather exposure, lighting and signage all affect usability and equipment protection.
The most prominent parking spaces are not always the best technical location, but hiding chargers behind service areas can make them difficult for visitors to use. A good design balances customer convenience with cable routes, electrical costs and site operations.
Venues should also decide how they will discourage non-charging vehicles from occupying charging spaces and whether time limits are appropriate.
Plan for demand to change
A venue may only need one or two chargers today, but customer demand can increase quickly. The first stage should consider whether additional chargers could be added and what enabling infrastructure would make that easier.
This may include spare capacity in the EV distribution board, larger submains, additional conduits or pits, network infrastructure and a load management system that can accommodate future stages.
Future planning should be proportionate. The aim is not to install a large charging hub before demand exists. It is to avoid preventable rework if the service proves popular.
Design the charging around the venue
Destination charging works best when it is designed around the customer visit, the site’s electrical capacity and the way the business intends to operate the service.
Charging EVolution supplies and installs EV charging infrastructure for hotels, wineries, restaurants, caravan parks and visitor attractions across Victoria. We take the time to understand your customers, site operations and available electrical capacity before recommending a solution.