CS Week Trends - Part 3 - EVs and Customer Engagement

If you missed the other entries in this series be sure to catch them here:

Of all of the trending topics at CS Week 2023, conversations about EVs and charging most surprised and delighted us. Fleet electrification represents the largest commercial and residential shift for electric utilities in decades, will happen only once and much more swiftly than consumers (and many utilities) expect. It's the single biggest opportunity for electric utilities to engage with customers and "energize" that relationship that electric utilities will have for a generation. But, utilities that lack a plan for customer engagement on the topic may swiftly find themselves further dis-intermediated from their customers as market forces and other companies fill the gaps.

I heard questions from the floor at CS Week about how utilities want to connect with customers about EVs, EV chargers, charger installation, rebates, C&I support, charging infrastructure and the like. We heard utility team members talk about their plans across the entire EV ecosystems from providing charging station maps in their mobile apps to comparisons and reviews of electric vehicles, to finding ways to help customers with charging stations in there homes or at their offices. I appreciated how electric utilities seem to have embraced the EV as a conduit for connecting with this important and (inevitably) growing customer cohort.

Electric utilities should form an EV engagement plan incorporating at least a few of these "must have" elements:

EV Charger Information Hub - let your utility website become a hub of information and insight for EV chargers to help customers educate themselves about what to buy, where to purchase, what rebates might be helpful, and how to install level 1 and level 2 chargers at their home or office.

aggregate reviews and insights from the Internet and local community about the best chargers for home and office
post articles about state, local, federal and utility sponsored rebates and subsidies for EV chargers
add links to local government websites to help customers learn about permitting for EV charger installation
include networks to local electricians for installation support
let customers buy a charger on your utility marketplace

Mobile App EV Hub - for utilities with a mobile app, the EV topic can be a great way to increase enrollment and utilization of the app beyond bill payment and outage alerts. We heard some great ideas from the CS Week attendees:

include a map to available EV charging stations with driving directions and pricing details - it can be surprisingly easy to add this type of information to a mobile app that leverages publicly available information or data subscriptions from third party services to locate public charging options.
charge public EV charging fees to the bill through the app
prompt timers and alerts when the car is fully charged
deliver EV battery health alerts
connect to home smart chargers with helpful alerts and information to customers about their charging history, energy efficiency benefits and savings

Beyond the Meter programs - from simple measures like including EV chargers on a utility marketplace and facilitating installation to expansion of surge protection or adding a new repair and protection plan to include the home charger, utilities have a lot of BTM opportunities that increase engagement and add valuable revenue sources.

We think it's important for utilities to consider the three phases of EV customer personas when considering their EV Engagement plans. EV shoppers need information about vehicles, rebates and subsidies, and charging options. Buyers need options to purchase and install a charger, links to financing options or electricians, and help submitting a rebate form. Owners may want to buy a charger, find local charging stations, or even get a repair and protection plan on their electric vehicle. Thinking about these three stages of the EV customer journey helps utilities find and prioritize content for their outreach and engagement programs, as well as develop capabilities for their new EV customer experience #EVCX. Customers have an abundance of information about EVs on the Internet, much of it confusing and obfuscated by marketing and vendor bias. A helpful electric utility that provides a curated selection of the most trustworthy information with useful links or connections to customers to facilitate vehicle purchase, ownership and charging has the best chance in decades to build a deep and lasting customer relationship.