If a borne de recharge VE commerciale‘s location is not well chosen, even good equipment and strong marketing you may still get very few customers. Most EV drivers prefer to charge nearby or along their existing route, rather than making a long detour just for charging. Based on XYDF‘s existing charging station deployment experience, we will share some practical site selection suggestions.
The first step in borne de recharge VE commerciale site selection is to check whether the surrounding area has stable traffic flow. In theory, the higher the traffic volume, the more potential users you may have.
According to feedback from XYDF installation engineers, common high-traffic locations often have the following features: they are close to highway entrances and exits, main urban road entrances and exits, airports or railway stations, large parking lots, logistics parks, industrial park entrances, and similar areas.
From this, we can see that good charging locations are usually close to busy road sections or the entrances and exits of public places.
Different EV users have different charging needs. Private EV owners usually prefer to charge overnight at home for daily commuting. Taxis, ride-hailing vehicles, and logistics vehicles usually have higher demand for public charging.
Therefore, before choosing a site, it is necessary to understand the main vehicle types and user profiles around the location.
After checking whether there are enough vehicles passing by, you also need to see whether these vehicles can actually stop and charge.
For example, a main urban road may have heavy traffic, but if there are no suitable ramps, entrances, or exits, drivers may find it difficult to notice your entrance or even enter the site. During peak hours, congestion can also become a serious problem.
Although we mentioned earlier that private car owners are more used to charging overnight at home, some locations may be exceptions. For example, apartment residents usually cannot install their own private chargers.
If you choose a site near public places such as airports, railway stations, or industrial parks, you also need to check whether there is already charging infrastructure inside these places. If there is, your plan should be considered more carefully. Is your site easier to enter and exit? Is it more visible? Does it have other competitive advantages?
Your competitors are doing the homework for you. When selecting a site, you should not ignore whether there are competitors nearby. However, the presence of competitors does not always mean you should avoid the location.
If there are already charging stations within a 1 km radius, you can further observe their usage. For example, check whether they often have queues, whether the charging power is low, whether the equipment often fails, whether payment is convenient, and whether user reviews are stable.
If competitors have long queues, it may mean that there is real demand in the area and the market is not yet saturated. If the competing stations have a poor user experience, and your equipment stability, charging speed, parking conditions, or operation service are better, there may still be an opportunity to enter the market.
On the other hand, if there are no charging stations in an area, you should also be careful. It may be a market gap, but it may also mean that there are not enough local EV users, the power conditions are poor, or the site renovation cost is too high.
A large part of the investment cost of a borne de recharge VE commerciale comes from the early deployment stage.
You need to consider rent, site renovation cost, electricity cost, construction cost, whether there is an available transformer nearby, and whether power capacity expansion is required.
This is especially important for DC fast charging stations, because they require higher power capacity. If the site is too far from the transformer, or if large-scale electrical renovation is required, the upfront cost may increase significantly.
Gas station site selection methods are relatively mature and can be used as a partial reference. However, they should not be copied directly, because refueling takes a short time, while EV charging takes longer.
Restaurants, convenience stores, supermarkets, restrooms, and other facilities can help bring stable traffic to the area.
Google Maps, charging station distribution platforms such as ChargePoint and EVgo, and similar tools can help you judge whether a regional market is saturated or whether demand is increasing.
From my personal experience, if it is easy to get a ride through a ride-hailing app in an area, it usually means the vehicle density is relatively high.
First-hand experience can help you discover more problems.
A good location for a commercial EV charging station often needs to be found through data collection and on-site investigation. If you are planning a charging station project, feel free to contact us or continue reading more XYDF EV charging business guides.
Xinya Dongfang Electricity Technology Co., Ltd.
