We ease the pressure on you to offer electric vehicle charging to your customers and guests, whilst recovering the costs.
BENEFITS
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Stand out from your competitors
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Attract new customers
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Create additional revenue
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Increase customer dwell-time & spending
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Contribute to sustainability goals
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Add valuable business asset
SMART EV CHARGING VERSUS 3-PIN PLUG
THUNDERGRID EV CHARGING
- Safe for your building
- Efficient & fast
- Prevent overload, trips & broken fuses
- Create revenue by billing customers
NON-SMART CHARGING
- Can lead to fire risk
- Inconvenient & slow
- Risk of overloading power capacity
- Avoid freeloading customers & missed income
Chargers that Change
We also ease the pressure on buildings and the power grid with smart chargers that share the power supply when multiple vehicles plug in.
Beyond supplying chargers, we’re experts who specialise in every stage of the EV charging journey.
Design
Designing a solution for your business depends on your power supply, how many customers may charge, and if this is overnight (at a hotel) or an hour (at a cafe).
Every tourism and hospitality site and business are different and requires experience in knowing what’s needed for now and the future. You may have guests with different needs, standard overnight charging or fast daytime charging. The variables are endless, and we work with it all.
This means looking at your parking situation, if parking is close to the switchboard, where the most appropriate place for charging may be, how much power there is, and how it’s connected to the grid.
We facilitate the relationship between landlords and tenants, so whether you own your building or lease it, we collaboratively clarify who owns and pays for what.
Our design allows you to transition to EV charging without having to change the way you operate. From electrical designs with load management solutions, to installation and ongoing management.
Installation
Installation goes beyond chargers to making sure the power supply isn’t overloaded, and your guest or customers can access them.
We look after every part of the installation process, from disruption planning and traffic management to coordinating onsite logistics. We bring in the right people needed, even as far as removing and replanting trees if needed.
Our smart charger installation includes load management. This means they vary their speed to not overload the power supply available, so hotels and businesses can maximise charging speed and operate as usual without fear of losing power.
Our simplest payment option is through our credit card One-off Payment which can be made by scanning a QR code or through our Public Thundergrid App. No extra admin for staff, no account set up for customers, and you get automatically reimbursed.
You can choose to connect a charger to a key fob, pin code or existing building or room access card, to bill charging directly to a guest or customer.
We have systems in place so you can scale as demand grows, rather than installing for the future upfront. For larger businesses such as hotels, we may recommend installing an electrical ‘backbone’ (cables and distribution) so chargers can be added in the future.
We provide a site-specific safety plan and implementation plan that all stakeholders can review, clearly outlining what work is taking place, what will be installed, and how we will install it safely.
Management
Management is more than maintenance and upgrades. It’s providing billing, user support 24/7 and reporting, so you can focus on running your own business.
Like any device, chargers need regular updates, and we can do that for you. We can also perform annual compliance checks and periodic assessments to ensure the electrical safety of the equipment.
Our management platform allows us to see the live status of multiple chargers, so we can monitor their use online and proactively and remotely manage faults.
Using our management platform, we create dashboards and reports to track your carbon emissions (which can go towards your sustainability rating) and power usage per charger, vehicle or guest.
You can set the rate of your chargers so customers and guests can pay via a credit card One-off Payment or the Public Thundergrid App. You may alternatively charge a flat fee, or (if you are a hotel, for example) supply a key fob or pin to charge for the energy they use as part of their room.
You’re busy running your business, the last thing you need is to manage technical support. Your customers can call the free-phone help desk any time for user support or technical help. We can resolve issues remotely and send a technician if needed.
ONE-OFF PAYMENT MAKES LIVES EASIER
Using our One-Off Payment by credit card, your customers simply scan a QR code and pay via an online portal. It is easy to create revenue from your visitors or guests with smart EV charging.
YOUR BENEFITS
- No extra admin for reception staff
- No app download
- No account set up
- One-time payment with credit card
- Client receives invoice per mail
- You get automatically reimbursed
Products
Our tourism and hospitality charging solutions range from standard (AC) chargers to fast (DC) chargers. All include dynamic load management to not overload the power on buildings or the grid.
When Booking.com added search filters to enable users to find accommodation based on where they can recharge overnight, it became a huge success. Statistics show that the Airbnb platform has seen an increase of 80% using the EV charger filter in their search when they introduced it mid-2021.
“We wanted to offer value-added service to get guests to stop in. The Thundergrid team were excellent to deal with, they helped us to install the right EV chargers to suit our needs.”
Rotorua
With variables to EV charging solutions, our experience gives answers to questions you didn’t know you had.
Whilst you can buy a charger, there are bigger implications to multiple chargers operating at the same time. We understand the unique considerations of different sites and are experienced at solving different situations. With Thundergrid, you won’t have to worry about the power going out or your investment needing expensive upgrades in the future.
This varies greatly depending on car battery size and if dynamic load management is in use. All our standard AC chargers replenish the battery at a rate of around 40-60km of range per hour and could take up to 10 hours to charge to full. Our fast DC chargers replenish the battery at a rate between 150-1500km of range per hour and can take between 15 minutes to 2.5 hours.
Plugging direct into your building’s 3-pin sockets is called trickle charging, and this can lead to an increased risk of fire or blowing fuses. It is also unmetered so you either are giving away free power or needing to bill a set amount.
Our smart chargers have dynamic load management which varies their speed to work with power availability, and credit card facilities so guests can safely charge and pay for what they use.
Offering EV charging will set you apart from your competitors for guests and customers. EV charging is often the deciding factor when someone is choosing their route or where to stay or stop, particularly if you are not near a public charging station.
Chargers attract customers to stay longer and spend more money, ultimately paying for themselves. They are also a sustainable credential, gaining points towards a Qualmark or other sustainability rating.
EV chargers are an attraction feature in themselves for customers with EVs, who may be deciding whether to charge at a petrol station or visit you. It is also a must if you are remote or not near a public charging station.
Chargers attract customers to stay longer and spend more money, ultimately paying for themselves. They are also a sustainable credential, gaining points towards a Qualmark rating.
Tourism destinations may offer one or two chargers, allowing their customers to charge during their visit, paying via a credit card with our One-off Payment. Our tailored solutions work with each business’ parking, power and personal needs.
Hotels, motels and short-stay apartments may offer a few EV chargers where guests can charge overnight. This can be a credit card payment, or connected to a fob key or pin number which can connect to the room and billing.
Cafes and restaurants may offer a few EV chargers where guests can charge during the day. This can entice customers to stay longer and order more, while their vehicle charges.
Customers can pay for charging either via the Public Thundergrid App or by credit card with a One-off Payment. As the owner of the charger, you can set the tariff amount either at industry rate or higher to recover your costs. Your business may also choose to charge a flat fee or no cost at all, if you’d like.
We have systems in place so you can scale as demand grows, rather than installing for the future upfront. For larger businesses such as hotels, we may recommend installing an electrical ‘backbone’ (cables and distribution) so chargers can be added in the future as demand increases.
We can facilitate a solution between businesses, their landlords and any other tenants that works for everyone.
Our managed services offering means you don’t have to worry about keeping your chargers up and running. We can take the responsibility off you when it comes to responding to customer enquiries 24/7, technical issues, billing, updating software, maintenance, insights and reporting.