Is your fuel site ready for EV charging?

Are you considering investing in electric vehicle charging at your fuel site? With the growth in the adoption of EVs, it can be difficult to make an informed decision on when to invest in EV charging at your location.

One customer in Georgia, US, came to us to understand further how our EV Location Intelligence report could help them start their EV journey. They wanted to establish if their location was ready for EV adoption by using the EV Location Intelligence report.

The report was able to provide actionable answers to their EV questions, such as:

• How suitable their location is for EV charger deployment
• The position their location ranks on a national level to help them understand the opportunity that it presents as EV adoption evolves over time
• How and when to integrate EV into their offering

The Kalibrate team did this by determining how the location ranked nationally, and by exploring and comparing the key variables that drive EV readiness for the 2-mile trade area around the location, both nationally and to the state of Georgia.

What did the report reveal?

The report placed the site in the 10^th decile nationally, this means that the site location ranks above at least 90% of other block group areas in the US, placing it in the top 10% of sites that would be suitable for deploying EV chargers in the US in the future.

How did we get this score?

• High levels of innovators and early adopters with disposable income
• The location is within close proximity to a major arterial highway
• Significant points of interest and retail drivers

So, the report tells us that there is an immediate demand for EV chargers in the area with additional pull from local attractions, and support from the local government is likely to push more drivers toward EVs in the near future.

This is supported by a high level of household income in the area — a high level of income is positively correlated with EV adoption, and when we look at the EV adoption curve, early adopters fall into this income bracket.

This site has some real potential, but let’s look closer to understand the potential risk.

What about local competitors?

The report analyzes the local EV charging competitors for the fuel site we are looking at. There aren’t many competitors in the 2-mile radius who offer EV charging – so far, so good. But these competitors are close to existing quick service restaurants and retail stores — making them an attractive location for EV owners which could consume a lot of the potential demand away from the analyzed site.

We know that there are plans to develop a retail site near the location, offering QSR and C-store opportunities in the near future.  This would be a huge benefit to the site, making it an attractive destination for EV consumers by allowing them to grab a bite to eat or go shopping whilst their car charges. The report’s final score also factors in the proximity of a highway junction that connects the site to a source of high-value traffic.

This means that even if the site analyzed struggles initially to catch demand from its local competitors, the site is likely to catch traffic from the nearby highway. In this instance, we would recommend that the fuel site invests in signage advertising their EV chargers to entice drivers off the highway onto their site.

Overall, there is strong demand in the area for EV charging with few competitors right now. The development of the retail site will boost this site’s potential for EV customers, as consumers are attracted to charging locations where they can do other activities while they wait. The site will also benefit from being close to the highway, capturing a lot of traffic.

The EV Location Intelligence report provided the fuel site owner with a complete analysis of how their site would rank nationally and it allowed the owner to further understand their local demographic and if they are ready to adopt EVs.

To understand more about how the EV Location Intelligence report can help you make data-driven decisions request a free sample report today.