Smart Charging study 2023

Segmentation criteria:

• Socio-demographic data (age, gender, etc.)
• Housing situation (EFH vs. MFH)
• Loading locations
• Charging technology at home
• Investment readiness
• Charging type
• Relevance and general interest in smart charging

Investigated use cases:

• Variable tariffs @public
• Variable tariffs @home
• Bidirectional charging (V2G) @public
• Bidirectional charging (V2G) @home
• Bidirectional charging (V2H)

Product market fit of all 5 investigated use cases:

• Determine the product market fit and the target groups that can be reached for all use cases.
• Prioritised usage drivers for all use cases
• Prioritised barriers to use for all use cases
• Individually perceived net value added per use case
• Relevance per use case
• Achievable product-market fit

In addition to variable tariffs:

• Evaluation of different implementation variants (prices depending on the share of green electricity, capacity utilisation, electricity price on the exchange, time of day, etc.)
• Necessary price spread to be attractive
• Necessary price display, preferred display locations

In addition to bidirectional charging:

• Evaluation of various implementation options for V2G (selling energy, lending energy)
• Incentivisation required for acceptance of both implementation variants (methods used: van-Westendorp, Gabor-Granger)

Integration of smart charging:

• Trust in solution providers (utilities, OEMs, charging tech providers, home tech providers…)
• Criteria for the choice of provider
• Deepening: Acceptance of OEMs as providers
• Interest in “everything from a single source” vs. “individual purchase”
• Reasons and preferred providers for “everything from a single source”
• Reasons and preferred providers for “individual purchase” (per component)
• Preferred operation of integrated charging solutions
• Mental accounting for investments in smart charging technology

Vehicle To Load / Vehicle To Vehicle:

• fundamental interest in V2L and V2V
• Important use cases for V2L and V2V

Special on DC charging@home:

• Awareness of charging losses when charging at home
• Interest in purchasing a DC wallbox
• Opinion on the abolition of AC charging in general

For the study, female buyers, purchasers and owners of fully battery electric e-cars were surveyed. Each use case has a different target group and always a sample between N = 100 and over 200:

• Grid-friendly charging @home/EFH with PV: EFH residents with PV system
• Grid-friendly charging @home/EFH without PV: EFH residents without PV system
• Grid-friendly charging @home/MFH: MFH residents
• Grid-friendly charging @work: EV drivers with charging option at the employer’s premises
• Grid-friendly charging @public: EV drivers charging in public
• Bidirectional charging @home/EFH Vehicle-to-Home (V2H): EFH residents with PV system
• Bidirectional charging @home/EFH Vehicle-to-Grid (V2G): EFH residents without PV system
• Bidirectional charging @home/MFH Vehicle-to-Grid (V2G): MFH residents
• Special case Variable tariffs: all
• Special case Vehicle-to-Load (V2L): all

The study shows technology providers (hardware and software) and providers of services for smart charging which technology experiences the highest acceptance and thus sales expectations with which target group. Providers also learn which prioritised levers they can use to increase the acceptance and thus the sales of their offers and which messages they can use to best reach their target customers.

The study offers business developers the basis for calculating take rates and business cases.

The study shows product developers and product managers how which function can be integrated to what extent in order to continue to be accepted as “generic” from the user’s point of view. An example: Should car manufacturers offer energy management systems for the home? Do customers see the control of smart charging technologies with the energy supplier, the home technology provider or the vehicle manufacturer?

Since 2018, UScale has been systematically surveying e-car drivers about their expectations and experiences at all touchpoints of the e-mobile customer journey. An overview with all UScale focus studies can be found HERE.

If you have any questions, please contact us at contact@uscale.digital.