As governments around the world set targets for EV adoption the parking industry can step up to play a starring role. Our Parking Network Business Members share their thoughts on how parking can spearhead the transition to electric vehicles, from countering range anxiety through the implementation of public charging infrastructure to enforcing EV charging spaces and offering simple payment options.
Nick Maley, Director of Business Development at TNS
AT TNS we have the following three thoughts about the role that parking can play in meeting government targets for EV ownership.
- We believe that the many landowners and parking management companies that make up the industry could do more to release greater parking landmass for EV adoption. So, at an existing car park that may have 400-500 spaces, a larger element of that car park could be offered up for EV install capabilities, not just 3 or 4 spaces as is currently the standard.
- The industry needs to be careful and very mindful of purely app-based payment models for EV charging. There needs to be a variety of ways to pay for EV charging and a variety of ways to actually book your EV vehicle in for a charging session.
- Finally, TNS is very well positioned to add pace and momentum to the EV charging revolution as we offer a fully embedded, frictionless and efficient solution of payment options that can enhance any EV charging environment, not only now but in the future as well.
Andrea Fossati, CEO of Parquery
Governments can foster the transition to electric vehicles through policies and incentives. But, as more parking spots are reserved for EV charging, the overall parking pressure increases. And, when drivers leave their vehicles parked after charging, or non-EVs park in reserved spots, the perceived shortage of charging options, makes EVs less attractive to potential owners. This is where the parking industry comes into play.
Smart parking can tackle this problem on several levels:
- Alleviate the overall parking pressure by redirecting search traffic
- Encouraging the fair use of parking spaces through policy enforcement, for example, by alerting parking officers to non-electric vehicles parked in EV charging bays
- Ensuring the proper use of EV charging infrastructure by checking if a parked car is in fact charging.
In this way, smart parking solutions help guarantee charging infrastructure availability, boost the adoption of EVs, meet government targets and improve the overall parking situation.
Jan-Erik Schmitt, VP of Sales at Carrida Technologies
So, I am an EV driver myself, and there is nothing more annoying than if you go to an EV charging station that is blocked by a non-EV car. So in my opinion, the most important thing to increase EV adoption is the charging infrastructure. And one point where parking, and especially license plate recognition, can really help is to make sure that EV charging parking points are not blocked by non-electric cars.
Yossi Antopolsky, Head of Marketing and International Relations at Technoso Control Systems
One of the main considerations for someone looking to purchase an electric vehicle today is the issue of charging. And we see a problem all over the world where parking spaces that provide electric chargers, have vehicles that are non-electric park there. And we also have vehicles that are electric that stay beyond the point that they have finished charging. And so one of the main things that parking companies can provide today, using the integration of parking access control together with EV chargers, would enable enforcement to make sure that those spaces always stay available to the vehicles that need them.
Chirag Jain, CEO of Get My Parking
Whilst there is a lot of innovation and investment by the automation industry to push EV adoption, one of the biggest hurdles for the consumer is range anxiety. People want assurance that fast charging is available everywhere, and the only network of real estate that can support this is parking lots. But just installing chargers is not enough, we have to invest in the digital layer, in the technology, that will enable the discovery of these charging stations and create a seamless integration between the charging station and parking access. Providing single billing for both parking and charging.
Mattias Rouw, Business Development Manager at ARVOO
For the EV transition to succeed, you must of course start with yourself, and that is why 90% of ARVOO’s SCAN GENIUS systems are now mounted on fully electric vehicles in multiple cities, including Amsterdam, Rotterdam, and Utrecht.
And ARVOO thinks that the parking industry can help in the following ways:
- Implementing special EV parking areas, for both off and on-street parking
- Enforcing the occupation of EV charging spots during the peak usage period by using scan systems like our SCAN GENIUS system.
- Create EV-only city centers. This can be enforced by ANPR cameras surrounding the city, and SCAN GENIUS systems inside the city.
Efe Nicholas Sarinalbant, Project Manager at Asura Technologies
There are many ways that parking can positively impact electric vehicle ownership. As many of us know, electric vehicles often have a much higher, and loftier cost than petrol-based automobiles. So by making parking cheap, or even free, for electrical vehicles, the owners of such cars can essentially compensate the long-term incurred cost of gasoline that a regular car would implicitly require, thus incentivizing the purchase of future electric vehicles. Therefore, from a government standpoint by offering cheap or free parking you can increase the number of electric vehicles on your roads.
Filip Mestrio, Product Manager at MOBILISIS
The main obstacle for EV drivers today is charging. Destination chargers, such as those found at work, in garages, or in shopping centers can charge electric vehicles whilst the driver is working, sleeping, or shopping. And where do drivers leave their car for a prolonged period of time – at our parking lots. We already have space and facilities for cars and chargers, we already have customers with EVs and we already have the tools to enforce EV charging. So the parking industry is in a perfect position to supercharge the revolution with destination chargers and eliminate common pitfalls with EV ownership. This, combined with government grants will make EV ownership more accessible and attractive. We at MOBILIISIS, along with our partner Geosparc, developed effective tools for charger operators and our clients, helping them make the most out of their chargers.
Adam Woolway, Head of EV at Parkopedia
Car park operators have a huge role to play when it comes to achieving government targets for electric car adoption around the world. So one thing that we need in order to push electric cars is a good solid, public infrastructure to make sure that drivers are aware that charging a car is as easy as filling up a car with petrol.
If we look at the statistics we can see that 30% of households across Europe are not able to have electric car charging points at home. So that means that governments around the world are looking at increasing the number of public charging points by a factor of 10 by 2030. And the question then comes - where are these charging points going to go? Because the on-street business case for electric car charging points is very, very tough and will not survive. Instead, charging points that are publicly accessible will need to be put on private ground, such as in private lots, or retail car parks. This is where car park operators come in to play, because they hold a huge amount of real estate which is going to be key to rolling out this public infrastructure, and they need to understand the power that they have in their hands, and then equally understand how they can monetize that when the electric car revolution comes.
With its management software, enforcement solutions and extensive real estate, parking has a huge role to play in increasing EV adoption. And, once the initial infrastructure is in place, and the creases ironed out, it will be possible for parking operators to successfully monetize EV charging.
