EV Commercial Charging Stations

Top 5 things to know when buying a commercial EV charging station

Here are some factors to think about when purchasing a commercial EV charging station to offer EV charging to your employees, tenants or customers.

Understand your EV charging needs
EV charging stations are a new amenity for many businesses, so it is important to take the time to understand your needs before searching for the best solution. A best practice is to survey the group of people that will be using the stations, when possible, in order to understand how many stations will be needed to meet demand for EV charging, as well as what features are most important. While some businesses have complicated EV charging management needs and require expensive software, most businesses simply need the ability to create user groups, control access to stations, and monitor station usage for reporting and billing.

Take advantage of incentive funds when they are available
There are billions of dollars available to businesses to install EV charging equipment across the United States. In some areas, multiple incentive programs may allow you to get EV charging at low or zero cost. Head to our incentive page or check with an EV charging expert to confirm you are utilizing all available funds.

Choose your installation locations strategically
Take the time to understand how EV charging stations will integrate with your existing electrical infrastructure—tearing up pavement and laying conduit can be expensive, but is not always necessary. The most cost-effective location for installation is typically as close as possible to existing electrical service. Choosing a provider with load balancing capabilities can also allow you to limit electricity use by the group of stations so as not to exceed existing electrical capacity. Saving on installation can leave more money for hardware and software.

Choose a software provider with smart charging capabilitie
One of the most important considerations when selecting EV charging stations is the ability of the equipment to intelligently manage electricity use and reduce the operational costs of the station. Make sure to select a station that comes with an affordable smart charging software like JuiceNet Enterpriseto help you manage the cost of providing this amenity with features like scheduled charging, load balancing and demand charge management.

Avoid high network fees and other recurring charges
Many charging station businesses require expensive, recurring network and software fees. By choosing cost-effective charging stations with only minimal operating fees, many businesses are able to provide charging to their EV drivers at low or zero cost, especially when incentives are used to cover upfront hardware and installation costs.