7 Tips to Maximize Your Investment in Fast (DC) Charging Last

Last Updated: 24/4/2023

Over the past decade, electric mobility has experienced exponential growth. According to the IEA’s report on the future of electric vehicles, there were 10 million electric cars on the world’s roads by the end of 2020. As electric vehicles become increasingly common among individuals and businesses, the need for fast and efficient charging solutions has never been greater. This is why more and more stakeholders are investing in fast and ultra-fast (DC) charging stations, capable of fully charging electric vehicle batteries in just a few dozen minutes.

Businesses of all sizes are seizing this market opportunity to generate additional revenue and/or increase the productivity of their electric fleets by meeting the demand for fast charging.

Here are seven tips to help you make the most of fast charging for your business:

Know Your Visitors
Understand Your Site’s Characteristics
Choose the Right Station Architecture and Output Power
Consider Smart Charging
Decide How to Start Charging Sessions at Your Station
Manage Your Network with Monitoring Software
Keep an Eye on Your Charging Network with a Maintenance Contract Bonus: Optimize Your Station to Meet Subsidy Requirements

1. Know Your Visitors

To accurately determine which DC charging station best suits your needs, it’s crucial to have a good understanding of your visitors:

Who visits your site?
How long do they stay?
What types of electric vehicles do they drive?

If you own a restaurant or a cinema, where people typically stay for a few hours, you may want to primarily invest in AC charging stations or one or two fast DC charging stations for drivers who want to charge more quickly (see our article: differences between alternating current (AC) and direct current (DC), or the case study of the CGR cinema in Villenave d’Ornon).

However, if you’re a business with shorter dwell times, such as a gas station or a fast-food franchise, ultra-fast DC charging stations might be a better option.

This tip applies whether you’re charging your customers’ electric vehicles or your own electric fleet. Understanding how long your visitors stay (or could stay) at your site will help you choose the most suitable charging stations and output power.

Building a solid strategy based on traffic, location, and the average dwell time of visitors will help you select a charging solution tailored to your needs.

2. Understand Your Site’s Characteristics

Regardless of the type, installing DC charging stations at your site will integrate into the landscape. You should be aware that these stations can have different configurations.

Due to the complexity and high power output, if you own multiple sites, treat each one independently and define the specific requirements and possibilities for each.

Beyond the layout of your sites, various stakeholders often need to be involved (such as site owners, grid operators, or local authorities) before a charging station can be installed. Therefore, make sure to identify and engage all these parties early in the process to avoid delays or additional costs.

3. Choose the Right Station Architecture and Output Power

There are as many types of DC charging stations as there are opportunities. You can find more information about DC charging and the types of DC charging stations available in our previous article.

You can choose a monobloc model with power modules integrated into the station or a model with a separate power unit. The latter consists of a user unit that drivers interact with and a power unit that supplies the energy needed for charging, which can be installed out of the driver’s view.

We also recommend ensuring that your DC charging stations have a scalable configuration to allow you to easily upgrade your output power in the future. Having a DC charging station with scalable modules means you can expand your charging network effortlessly as your needs evolve.

4. Consider Smart Charging

Smart charging enables electric vehicles, the grid, and charging stations to communicate intelligently to maximize vehicle charging using the available on-site energy. Research what types of smart charging features your stations offer.

For example, smart load balancing helps optimize your infrastructure by avoiding costly grid upgrades and preventing grid overload by efficiently distributing energy among charging points. Installing an ultra-fast DC charging station with the option for simultaneous charging of multiple vehicles also optimizes your site while providing a high-quality charging experience for your visitors.

To learn more, check out our article dedicated to smart DC charging.

5. Decide How to Start Charging Sessions at Your Station

How you want users to initiate a charging session at your charging station is an important consideration if you’re planning to install stations to charge electric vehicles for your business.

If you’re charging an electric vehicle fleet, you can choose the “plug-and-charge” auto-start option (the driver plugs in an electric vehicle, and the charging session starts automatically) or the option to use RFID cards (e.g., charging cards or RFID key fobs).

If you want to open your charging stations to visitors at your site, you can include multiple options to make access and payment as easy as possible. You can choose to initiate charging with RFID badges, a mobile app, or simply a contactless bank card reader.

6. Manage Your Network with Monitoring Software

Another important consideration is charging management software. This software is essential to help keep your network operational and accessible to electric vehicle drivers.

You can maximize revenue by setting different billing rates based on the time of day or the power requested; it also helps reduce costs by setting power limits during peak demand periods.

7. Keep an Eye on Your Charging Network with a Maintenance Contract

To provide a high-quality and reliable charging service to electric vehicle drivers, charging stations require rigorous maintenance by professionals certified by EVBox. Therefore, to maximize the availability of your DC charging stations, you must consider maintenance and upkeep.

It’s essential to know whether your partner offers preventive and corrective maintenance services, as well as maintenance packages, to implement a preventive maintenance plan.

As you build a network of fast charging stations, it’s critical to ensure your charging stations remain operational. In case of unexpected issues, it’s reassuring to have a partner who can act quickly.

Bonus: Optimize Your Station to Meet Subsidy Requirements

The French government’s “100,000 charging stations” plan, supported by the Advenir program subsidies and the France Relance plan, emphasizes ultra-fast public charging near metropolitan areas and along highways. Click here to simulate your ADVENIR subsidy or here to learn more about the France Relance plan subsidies.

EVBox Fast and Ultra-Fast DC Charging Stations

EVBox offers a range of DC charging stations designed and manufactured in France at its Bordeaux site, meeting the requirements of the various subsidies under the Advenir program, managed by Avere-France, and the France Relance plan.

5 min | EVbox