Car Chargers: Shopping Malls and Libraries

I recently moved to Denver. During the move I was away from my house and unable to charge each night in my garage. As such I spent more time searching for car chargers. In this adventure I've decided there are two more locations that I think would do well to add car chargers in their parking lots. For a long time I've recommended that hotels have car chargers. In addition, now I believe that shopping malls and libraries should have them as well.

I don't think I've ever been in a library that has rushed me out. For the most part, libraries are happy to have people, come and stay for a while. They are a place where people can come and browse and read. It is a quiet, focused space. In many ways libraries create a location of community.

Cars take a while to charge. A library is a great place to sit, relax, get some work done, and learn something new while they wait for their car to charge. Libraries are a center of the community as well. They offer classes and have bulletin boards with information about events available to the public in the surrounding community. The longer patrons spend in the library, the more likely they are to review the bulletin boards and get involved with community events.

I believe that if libraries offer car charging stations, they will see increased patronage and increased participation in events, meetings, and classes offered.

Shopping malls are another great place for car chargers. Shopping malls have huge overhead costs. They have to provide lighting and heating and cooling whether people are in there buying things or not. Most retailers who rent space in shopping malls are impulse buy markets. They spend lots of time and money trying to catch a shopper's eye and entice them to buy something they weren't in the market for just five minutes earlier.

This impulse buy economy relies on keeping people in the vicinity. The longer someone lingers in a space the more likely they are to purchase something. By offering car charging, shoppers feel stuck. They feel as though they must stay in the space while their car charges. Since they are going to be there a while, they might as well wander around and just look at what's available. Bingo. This is the magic point.

I believe that if shopping malls offer car charging stations they will see increased revenue because there will be more people lingering and purchasing items.

There is a caveat to this. I did find one shopping mall that had charging stations that stayed unused. This is because they charged $2.00 for the first hour and $2.00 per hour after that to a maximum of $20. Even with a high amperage charging station, a car will draw only about 3 kilowatts in an hour. Check your utility bill. You're probably paying between $0.08 and $0.12 per kilowatt hour at home. This is a 2,000% markup on the electricity that the shopping mall is purchasing from the utility. On top of that a car will only go 10 to 15 miles on the 3 kilowatts they were able to store. If we consider that most cars are getting 30 miles per gallon, the shopping mall is charging $2 per half gallon of gasoline or $4.00 per gallon. As I write this gasoline prices are around $2.50 per gallon making the shopping mall the most expensive transportation fuel location in town. The story gets worse the better the gas mileage of the car. My Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle (PHEV) averages around 45 miles per gallon.

The point is that there is a way for any retailer to price themselves out of the market. Electric Vehicle owners are aware of this and they will drive past a charging station they feel is a fleece.