Five to ten years ago, people considered the benefits of electric vehicles (EVs) for the environment and maybe their pocket, too. Now, when driving down the road, it is guaranteed you will see various types of EVs all around you. People have realized that by ditching their fuel-based cars and adopting the electric car way of life, they are doing their part to minimize their carbon footprint and save themselves a good amount of money in the long run. However, there is still a question about the cost of charging and parking these electric vehicles. Additionally, should there be an idle fee when a vehicle is parked beyond the charging window? Like gas, the EV charging parking cost varies based on location, state, and the EV vehicle’s size. This variation makes it difficult for property owners to decide how to determine fair pricing for parking with EV charging stations.

Property owners: if you seek guidance and general knowledge about how much to charge for EV-equipped parking spots for parking and considering idle fees to deter parkers from overstaying the charging window, you have come to the right place! Read our quick blog on determining fair pricing for parking with EV charging stations.

How much does it cost to charge an EV?

So, we have already concluded that owning an electric vehicle is undoubtedly cheaper than owning a fuel-guzzling car. The easiest way to save money with these vehicles is for EV owners to charge their cars at home with either their Level 1, Level 2, or Level 3 charging stations. But what of the instances where EV owners are away from their homes and need to charge their vehicles? And what about EV owners living in a rental building who must rent parking and need to charge their EVs? How much does it cost to charge an EV in these scenarios?

Public EV charging pricing

There are two ways that property owners determine fair pricing for their EV charging stations.

1. The first way is property owners charge the EV owner based on kilowatts per hour (kWh), billing in cents per kWh. This way is the most standard approach. On average, most property owners who have invested in EV charging stations in their parking facilities have made Level 2 chargers available to their residents, tenants, and renters. Level 2 chargers typically operate between 7-19 kilowatts. As most EVs have about a 68kw capacity, it usually takes an EV anywhere from 4 to 10 hours to charge. 
   • (As ParqEx’s home base is Chicago, IL, we will quickly analyze EV charging costs in Illinois based on battery size. The average electricity cost in IL is 17.43 (cents/kWh). This translates to approximately $2.96 to charge a tiny EV, $11.85 to charge an average EV, and $21.44 to charge a large EV.)
2. An alternative way to charge EV owners for their charging session is to bill for electricity by the minute. This system allows a standardized amount of electricity to transfer from the charging station to the vehicle per minute. This approach is regulated based on differing state legislations along with electric companies.

How much does it cost to park an EV?

We know that parking costs vary depending on location and demand for spots. There will always be a demand for parking spaces, no matter what part of the United States people are in. In the same breath, there is a constant and ever-growing demand for EV charging parking spaces.

For the property owners with EV charging stations on-site, this lack of EV parking supply nationwide serves your benefit. By listing your EV charging parking spot on ParqEx’s parking marketplace, you can determine the cost you will charge for parking, choose between the two options listed above to determine fair pricing for EV charging stations, put time constraints on spaces, deliver notification to EV users who are about to overstay their allotted parking window, enforce violating vehicles with fines directly through the app, and earn revenue off of these charging stations.

So, how much does it cost to park an EV? As a property owner, you can determine the pricing! A common practice in deciding upon parking prices is to see what others charge in the area and build off that. For EV owners seeking parking and charging at your property, bill these users for parking and EV charging!

How to enforce EV charging stations?

Like any form of parking, EV parking also needs to be enforced. There will always be people who violate parking rules and regulations. That is why it is important to have proper enforcement regardless of the type of parking facility you operate. ParqEx’s platform and Enforcer App can help your property management and enforcement team stay on top of it all regarding recurring EV parking charging station violations, like overstaying a charging window.

Over the years, Tesla has even struggled with grievances around enforcing their supercharging stations. So much so that they decided to implement “idle fees.” The Tesla team finally settled on charging a fee of $0.50 per minute to any EV owner connected to a charging station whose vehicle was fully charged. These idle fees served as a quick way to eradicate the recurring issue of EVs overstaying at charging bays.

ParqEx enforces similarly but takes it a couple of steps further. ParqEx will issue two alerts and reminders to the EV owners, informing them they must remove their vehicle from the charging station before receiving idle fees. Additionally, idle fees and any other parking rules these vehicles may infringe upon are issued within the ParqEx app, making the collection of parking fines immediate and hassle-free.

How to determine fair pricing for parking with EV charging stations varies based on location, price of electricity, price of parking, and the charge duration. For property owners that offer charging stations to their community, the bottom line is that these stations are amenities you provide. And like most amenities, they can be a fantastic source of income. Charging EV owners purely based on electricity will not generate revenue; you must also bill for parking.

EV charging and parking come with its fair share of headaches. If your property has faced EV parking challenges such as revenue limitations, improper use of charging stations, overstaying after full-charge, and enforcing EV charging stations, ParqEx & our innovative parking property technology can help. Book a demo with us today!

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Without a shadow of a doubt, the world is shifting to electric vehicles (EVs). An electric vehicle (EV) is defined as a vehicle that can be powered by an electric motor that draws electricity from a battery and is capable of being charged from an external source. They are more environmentally friendly and are less expensive to run and maintain as compared to combustion engines that run on fossil-based fuels like gasoline. With states like California stating they will stop selling new internal combustion vehicles within the next 15 years, this trend is here to stay. Of course, electric cars have several benefits, but one looming issue surrounding the electric vehicle industry is the EV parking challenges. Sure, the issue of fair access to EV charging stations continues to be a primary focus, but the challenges continue beyond there.

Limited Electric Vehicle (EV) charging bays

For many, an electric vehicle (EV) is a no-brainer. They have their own EV charger at home, never struggle with range anxiety as they only commute to and from work for the most part, and save money as they no longer have to worry about the price of gasoline. But what happens when you forget to charge the night before and discover you are in the red and need an EV bay as soon as possible? If you are in a populated city, chances are you will find a charging station and be okay. But that may be different for those who live in smaller communities. Sure, some of those new apartment buildings and condos have charging stations in their parking facilities, but how do you access those in dire moments of need?

Software Issues

For those with electric cars, we know you have experienced your fair share of “Out Of Order” charging bays. Like all technology, these charging stations are great until they do not work. Not only are these software issues frustrating for the owners of the stations looking to earn revenue, but for the drivers as well. The familiar feeling of dread seeps into you as you suddenly realize that you might run out of charge before you reach your next charging station. Alternatively, you finally find a working station, yet there is a long line, as many have experienced the same as you with software issues. At that point, what do you do, risk running out of battery and arriving at your meeting on time, or call an audible and wait in that line to charge? And what about the owners of these charging bays with software issues? What are they to do when their charging stations experience errors one after another?

Payment processing errors

Talking about errors, what about all those payment processing errors these charging stations experience? How do the owners or managers of these charging stalls limit such errors? What about the instance where a vehicle has been fully juiced up, yet upon payment, they experience a processing error? Does that driver just figure it is their lucky day and drive away? Or are there means of billing that user after the fact? The installment of these charging bays is costly, so lost revenue such as this must be extra painful.

Revenue limitations

As revenue is always top of mind, it seems outrageous that some of these charging stations still need to adapt to collect revenue. Of course, at the beginning of the EV wave, drivers could charge their vehicles for free at these various charging stations. But, as mentioned above, revenue is vital for everyone. Consequently, most charging stations adapted and have revenue-collecting capabilities, but some still need to. For charging station owners who are not looking to spend more to make more, there has to be an alternative, right?

Improper use of charging stations

Have you ever been in a rush to get to a meeting or an appointment and struggled to find parking? Of course, you have! Who has not? Have you ever been tempted to pull into that open guest, handicapped, or EV parking spot? We strongly suggest otherwise, as that is wrong! But people often misuse resources such as these. How does property management enforce proper parking in these situations? How do they ensure that only electric vehicles use these charging bays?

Overstaying after full-charge

If I were to jump into my car and head downtown to do a little shopping and get a meal with some friends, I would pull into the parking lot, fully intending to keep my car in that spot until I headed home. Unfortunately (for EV charging stations), most people operate under that mindset. So the question is, how do EV charging bay owners handle overstaying after a full charge? They must maximize the number of vehicles plugging in to make the most revenue. So when cars overstay, they again lose revenue. How can these owners enforce parking and ensure they earn all their potential income? This is by far one of the biggest EV charging challenges experienced all across the country!

Overnight charging

For EV owners with their own charging stations in their home garages, they may have the best setup. They go home, plug their car in for the night, unplug it the next day, and go about their lives. But what about electric car owners that live in apartments and condos? Yes, their building has various luxury amenities, including EV charging bays, but only a handful are available. So how do these drivers ensure they can charge their cars before tomorrow? And for property management and ownership, as mentioned above, they want to make sure that people are only using the stalls until they have fully charged. So how do they make sure that there are no overnight charging situations? They, of course, want to make the most revenue off these stalls but also want to ensure fairness amongst their tenants and residents. So how do they differentiate between EV charging spots and EV parking spots?

In no shape or form are we saying that the electric vehicle industry is giving us more issues than benefits. Instead, we are simply pointing out the obvious and logical electric vehicle (EV) parking challenges we have seen nationwide. For EV charging station owners and property managers who face these types of challenges and more, we can help. ParqEx has years of experience dealing with all parking-related challenges, including EV charging! We’re what you call a one-stop-shop parking platform! Book a meeting with our Electric Vehicle (EV) Parking specialist, and we will provide you with a custom parking solution to overcome your electric vehicle (EV) parking challenges.

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