A study by researchers at MIT shows that opening a charging station raised average spending at nearby stores by an average of 1.4 percent in 2019 and 0.8 percent from January 2021 to June 2023. Researchers noted that while that might sound small, it amounted to about $23,000 in cumulative spending increases in 2109 and about $3,400 per year from 2021 to June 2023, with the decline in the later time period due to a saturation of EV chargers and a post-Covid decrease in spending.
“These increases are equal to a significant chunk of the cost of installing an EV charger, and I hope this study sheds light on these economic benefits,” says lead author Yunhan Zheng MCP ’21, SM ’21, PhD ’24, a postdoc at the Singapore-MIT Alliance for Research and Technology (SMART). “The findings could also diversify the income stream for charger providers and site hosts, and lead to more informed business models for EV charging stations.”
The study, which focused on data from more than 4,000 charging stations and 140,000 businesses in California, showed spending increases were highest for businesses about a football field distance from the new station and were also significant for businesses in disadvantaged and low-income areas.