Do EV chargers bring more customers?

EV chargers may influence where drivers stop, but survey preferences do not prove extra sales at your site. Deloitte reported that 64% wanted coffee and beverages while charging [S1]. Check whether your opening hours, facilities and parking suit the people you want to attract, then measure visits and purchases separately. Checked October 2026.

Last checked 16 October 2026

Can EV chargers influence where customers choose to stop?

They may give drivers a reason to consider your site. Your task is to test whether the charging stop also works as a visit to your business. A driver can use a bay without entering your shop, ordering food or booking a room.

Deloitte’s UK release, published on 23 February 2023, reports coffee and beverages at 64% and bathroom access at 56% among amenities sought while charging. The research was Deloitte’s Global Automotive Consumer Study. Its UK sample comprised 1,514 consumers, surveyed from 21 to 29 September 2022. That is the overall UK sample, not a stated sample of that many EV owners. [S1]

Treat those findings as a prompt to examine your facilities. They are stated preferences, not a measurement of your future customers or their spending. Dwell time and survey intent are not proof of extra sales for a given site. Start with when EV charging is not worth it if the proposal depends on extra shop takings to make sense.

What do drivers want nearby while their car charges?

Transport + Energy’s report of 21 July 2025 describes Censuswide research for a charging network. It reports that 72% would stop for a hot drink and 89% would consider nearby cafes, shops and children’s play areas when choosing where to charge. The article gives no sample size or exact fieldwork dates, describing the research only as earlier that year. Those missing details limit how closely you can assess its relevance. [S2]

The same release includes Wi-Fi, snacks, light meals and somewhere to sit among the amenities drivers wanted. Those are survey responses, not a specification that every host must build. [S1]

Walk from the proposed bays to your entrance. Treat the following as a practical site checklist:

• Can someone arriving to charge see where to get refreshments?
• Are the toilets available during the advertised charging hours?
• Can visitors reach your entrance without walking through a delivery area?
• Is there a comfortable place to wait without committing to a meal?
• Can your team explain access, payment and the route back to the car?

Write down gaps before commissioning promotional material. A facility that exists behind a locked door is not useful to someone arriving after closing. Describe what is available and when; avoid implying that charging includes purchases, parking or access to every part of your premises.

How should charging dwell time shape your offer?

Censuswide’s findings are reported as typical on-site charging stays of 25–35 minutes. That describes the reported charging stop, not time inside a shop or a promised purchase. Do not turn it into an assumed spend uplift or apply that window to every hotel, workplace or charging installation. [S2]

Deloitte reports willingness to wait during charging, rather than observed shopping duration. Do not use a stated charging window as a predicted length of stay in your business. [S1]

Instead, map the visit you want to support. A takeaway order, a sit-down meal and an overnight stay have different rhythms. Ask prospective users what they need to do while parked and what would make the visit awkward. Keep your normal customer experience central: a charger should fit around it.

For your site review, record arrival time, departure time, whether the person entered the premises and whether they purchased. Do not assume the whole time connected to a charger is time spent browsing. Someone may leave the site, work in the car or visit a neighbouring business.

Which questions should shops, pubs, hotels and workplaces ask?

Use this comparison as a planning checklist, not a claim that a sector will achieve particular results. The survey findings suggest questions about facilities; your answers need local observation. [S1]

For a pub or cafe, rehearse an arrival when the kitchen is closed. For a hotel, ask reception to explain the charging arrangement before a guest books. For a workplace, decide who is invited to use the bays before promoting them publicly. Read public versus private chargepoints before choosing the audience.

How can you measure extra customers without assuming extra sales?

Set up a simple evaluation before launch. These are suggested measurement steps, not findings from the survey:

• Define a new visit as someone who says charging caused them to choose your site.
• Ask that question at the till, reception or through an optional feedback form.
• Keep charging sessions, visits, transactions and gross profit as separate totals.
• Compare similar opening periods and note promotions, holidays and other changes.
• Record visitors who charged without buying and existing customers who would have come anyway.
• Review blocked bays, complaints and staff time alongside positive feedback.

If you estimate additional gross profit, show your method: purchases attributable to new charging visits multiplied by average gross profit per purchase, less additional costs. Explain how you identified those purchases. Do not substitute total charging sessions for extra transactions.

Keep charging income separate from retail income. Use the income and payback tool to examine charging assumptions. Read the host agreement guide before accepting parking commitments on the strength of hoped-for customer visits.

What should you do next?

Prepare a brief covering your target users, opening hours, existing facilities and how you will measure the result. Include photographs of the arrival route and any access restrictions. Ask for a layout that supports your normal customers, and identify who will handle faults through the charger repair guide.

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