How commercial properties benefit from charging infrastructure

Why do commercial properties and car parks need charging solutions?

Electric vehicles make an important contribution to improving the CO2 balance of the transport sector. Electromobility is also getting political backing: according to the German government’s climate protection programme, between seven and ten million electric vehicles are to be registered in Germany by 2030.

The number of electric vehicles is therefore steadily increasing. At the same time, the majority of Germans live in apartment buildings without charging facilities for their EVs and without the possibility of installing a private wallbox directly at home. A large part of the population is therefore dependent on charging facilities in public spaces.

The demand for properties with charging facilities for electric vehicles will continue to increase in the future. It is therefore important to create the basic conditions now to be able to meet this increased demand from consumers. An extensive network of charging stations in public and non-public spaces must be created to meet the corresponding charging demand.

This requires sufficient charging facilities in public places where regularly occurring parking times can be used efficiently for charging. This includes parking spaces at commercial properties and public car parks where eVehicles are parked while their owners run everyday errands.

What are the advantages of a charging solution in commercial properties?

This is how a commercial property benefits from eMobility charging solutions:

Future-proof

Charging options will soon be part of the required basic equipment for commercial properties as well as parking garages. In the future, charging infrastructure will be more than just an attractive plus point: purchase and rental decisions will be significantly influenced by whether the location has charging options. Investing in charging solutions now ensures the lettability and thus the future viability of the property.

Increase value and attractiveness

By installing charging stations, owners and investors set an example for climate protection and fulfil ESG criteria. At the same time, this increases the exclusive added value of the property, on the housing market and in the public space. For the users of the charging stations, such as employees and customers, it is also obvious and attractive to be able to charge their electric car directly at the place where they spend time anyway.

Economic efficiency

However, providers of charging stations benefit enormously from equipping a commercial property with charging infrastructure, not only in terms of the external effect, but also financially. By offering public charging (ad hoc charging & eRoaming), charging solutions can be operated economically. If the charging solution has a flexible charging tariff management, different user groups can be easily created. Individual charging tariffs can then be set for the following user groups:

• Recurring/known drivers: e.g. tenants, owners, employees
• Guests/customers with third-party charging cards, e.g. eRoaming
• Guests/customers who charge spontaneously / ad hoc

In addition to the profitability of the operation, costs can already be saved when purchasing charging infrastructure. Several funding programmes support the installation of charging infrastructure, in public and private spaces. The “State Subsidy for the Expansion of Charging Infrastructure for Electric Vehicles” is available to tradesmen and companies, private individuals or municipalities, among others.

Legal certainty

According to the current legal situation, real estate must be equipped with the technical requirements for the installation of charging infrastructure: Accordingly, it is envisaged that both new buildings and existing buildings must be equipped with line infrastructure for charging possibilities.

• For renovations of existing buildings: if there are more than 10 parking spaces, every fifth parking space must be equipped with protective pipes for electric cables and at least one charging point must also be installed.
• For new buildings: For non-residential buildings with more than 6 parking spaces, at least every third parking space must be equipped with conduit infrastructure.

Especially in the case of new buildings, it is important to consider such infrastructural requirements in the planning from the very beginning. A gradual construction and expansion of charging options is then possible in a much more cost-efficient way than retrofitting in the existing building.