AutoTalk Live: EV chargers create opportunities for dealers

Electric vehicle charging stations could present significant customer opportunities for new and used vehicle dealerships.

This is the sentiment of ChargeNet head of charger sales James Cozens, speaking at the AutoTalk Live! dealer conference at Little Creatures NZ in Hobsonville, Auckland, on November 11.

He said that the existence of a charger on site can lure more customers through the doors, while also improving the way a dealer network might be perceived and providing a new revenue stream.

“If you look at it from the point of view of what can give you your dealership; additional revenue if you have a public-facing charger,” says Cozens.

“It obviously adds value to your business if you’ve got charging on site. It gives you greater visibility in terms of customers. It means you’re all part of that evolution and shows that you’re forward thinking and not living in the past.

“And also if you’ve got a site that you want to attract customers to, someone turning up in their Nissan Leaf who may want to buy something else like a BMW or a Volvo or a VW, it makes an opportunity to get people onto your site.”

Cozens explained that charger units installed in high-density locations can earn between $2000 to $3000 per month if open to the public.

Cozens also noted the importance of having people on site who are educated on EVs, in particular underlining the value of having a ‘charging champion’ on your team.

“Consider someone who’s got an EV or a sustainability manager or […] a property manager; someone who can actually dedicate some time to researching and planning to make sure that whatever programme or charger you’re putting in is planned properly.”

He advised that dealerships considering adding a charger to their site should consider all sorts of variables before going ahead.

These include factoring AC versus DC charging, the size of the charger potentially being looked at, how often and when in the day the charger was likely to be used, whether it would be for public use or exclusively in-house use, and other factors.

Cozens noted that there is plenty of sales momentum with EVs, detailing that while the total figure of 61,000 EVs (including hybrids) registered in New Zealand is a drop in the ocean in relative terms, EVs are heavily represented at the pointy end of current new-vehicle registration data.