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Charging station as a hook

Alan Burns

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I am driving up to Calgary on CDN 2 and came through Ft McLoud, AB. At the west end of town there is a recreated RCMP log fort for travelers to visit and gain a historical perspective of the area and it's heritage. One of the EV charging location sites says there is a charging station on the museum grounds. Wow, what a hook to get out of town visitors to spend time visiting the local point of interest. They pull in, plug in and they aren't going anywhere for 45 minutes to an hour. They see the displays, visit the docents and cruise the gift shop. Perhaps the museum could partner with a company like Electrify America to set up and manage the hardware infrastructure. All the museum needs is a parking lot.

I didn't see any EV charger on my drive by so I will stop in on the way home. It is not tourist season so it might only be open on weekends for now.
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ajdelange

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Tesla still (i believe) will give a merchant one of their Destination Chargers free and pay up to certain amount for its installation. Quite a few hotels, motels, breweries, distilleries, bakerys, wineries etc. have taken them up on this offer. The property has to pay for the electric bill but anyone using the facility is a potential customer. It's good advertising and pretty cheap. Perhaps a dollar for each hour the EV is hooked in.
 

fastwheels

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With the short time needed to fill a gas tank this was never a thought in the past. Now that we are facing significant charging times fresh ideas like this offer a lot of opportunity for small business and attractions that they did not have before. Plus it gives us something to do while we wait for charging other than taking a nap.
 

ajdelange

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It isn't exactly a new idea. You will be unsurprised to learn that there is a national association of convenience store operators, that they have a magazine for their members and that they make much more money on you if they can get you inside than if you just pump gas and get on the road as soon as you are finished. Last summer I came across a pretty extensive article from an issue at least a year or two old which discussed the benefits of these operators installing BEV chargers.

About a year ago a local (Takoma Park) gas station operator took out all his gas pumps and replaced them with charging stations. He has some sort of a lounge there but I don't know what other services, if any, he offers nor do I know if he is making money at it.
 

cc84

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.....they make much more money on you if they can get you inside than if you just pump gas and get on the road as soon as you are finished
Ahhh, so that explains why they don't keep their roll paper receipts filled in the pumps, forcing you to go inside to get a receipt.

Now that we are facing significant charging times fresh ideas like this offer a lot of opportunity for small business and attractions that they did not have before. Plus it gives us something to do while we wait for charging other than taking a nap.
I suppose in Nevada, the Casino's would be a good place to install chargers, or even at their Brothel's. :surprised: Casino's aren't exactly a small business though........I have no experience with Brothel's, so I don't know if they're considered a small business, or not. I seem to recall our government ran one once, for a short amount of time. Must not have been too small.
 

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ajdelange

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Ummm. Get a recharge while you get a recharge. I like it.
 

Pherdnut

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There are already plenty of free chargers in Chicago at grocery stores and pharmacies. Whole Paych... I mean Foods also has a partnership with Amazon so who knows what kind of cross promotions for Rivian owners might hatch from that. I think they have time limits but over an hour IIRC. Good places to spot the neighborhood Teslas.
 

ajdelange

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I keep forgetting that many here are not currently BEV owners and thus may not know about PlugShare, This is a website/app which crowd sources information on all kinds of chargers from Level I to Level III. Have a look there to get an idea where chargers of different types are located, see user reports and pictures etc.
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