Charged upCharged up

Fern Glazer

Operators seeking new ways to differentiate their restaurant, build brand loyalty or increase their eco-friendly image might want to consider taking an electric car for a test drive. 


In the last few years, a number of progressive restaurant operators have installed electric-car charging stations on their properties. As electric vehicles, or EVs, have yet to truly catch on in the consumer space, these operators aren’t yet growing business by attracting EV drivers. Instead, they are reaping the marketing benefits of being “green” pioneers.


“It sends a very clear message of brand trust to our customers,” said Ric Richards, owner of a McDonald’s franchise in Cary, N.C., the first location in the fast-food chain to offer EV charging stations. 


Opened in July 2009, the restaurant features two EV stations provided by Coulomb Technologies at a cost of approximately $5,000 each. The stations were installed as part of a green rebuild that Richards undertook when he bought an existing, 25-year-old McDonald’s in 2006.


Richards said he currently has about 20 to 25 customers who have EVs and regularly use the stations, mostly on weekends. Customers pull up, plug in and swipe a card to begin charging their cars. Richards doesn’t charge a fee for the service.


Since then a number of other restaurants and hotels have installed charging stations, at least in part due to incentives from two new programs designed to build an electric-car charging infrastructure. ECOtality Inc. of San Francisco is managing the EV Project, which is partially funded by the U.S. Department of Energy. Campbell, Calif.-based Coulomb offers the ChargePoint America program, also funded in part by the Energy Department. Both programs offer the stations free of charge to participants who fall within the programs’ specified target markets.


Among the foodservice operators using Coulomb’s charging stations are franchised Buffalo Wild Wings Grill and Bar restaurants in the Florida cities of Clermont and Kissimmee, a franchised Einstein Bros. Bagels in Reno, Nev., and the Sierra Nevada Brewing Company in Chico, Calif.


Ahead of the curve


“It’s a little new to see the direct benefits yet. [But] I think it’s a good benefit for my guests,” said Andrew Gross, president and chief executive of Sunshine Restaurant Corp., which operates several Buffalo Wild Wings in central Florida. “It’s one more way we can be ahead of the curve — differentiate.”


Early last year Gross installed two of Coulomb’s charging stations at each of his locations in Kissimmee and Clermont at no cost for the equipment. Although few people are using the existing stations yet, Gross said he plans to install two more stations at two other Florida Buffalo Wild Wings locations in Daytona and Orlando by the end of the year. Citing it as an insignificant increase in his electric bill — like the restaurant’s big-screen TVs or allowing customers to plug in their laptops — Gross also does not charge for the service.


While Reno, Nev., is not eligible for the ChargePoint program incentives and the LEAF, Nissan’s fully electric car, isn’t even sold there, Steve Reimer spent $7,500 on an EV charging station for the new Einstein Bros. Bagel franchise he owns in that city.


“It legitimizes us as a pioneer of really caring about the environment,” Reimer said. “[It also] sets us apart from our competitors. We’re always looking for something extra for people to talk about.” 


Despite the high start-up costs, Reimer plans to add stations to all seven Einstein locations he is contracted to open in the state. In addition, his company, Third Place LLC, is on the waiting list for its own EV, a van made by Ford that Reimer plans to use for catering and as a moving billboard.


“You have to believe in it,” said Reimer of the potential growth in EVs. “Otherwise, it’s a $10,000 advertisement.”


A DoubleTree by Hilton hotel franchise in Chattanooga, Tenn., is among the foodservice operators using ECOtality charging stations. Lebanon, Tenn.-based Cracker Barrel Old Country Store is working with ECOtality to install chargers at 24 locations in its home state, but the project has been delayed until the summer due to technology issues, according to Cracker Barrel spokeswoman Julie Davis.


Service providers


“It’s another amenity that we are offering to our customers,” said Bill Mish, DoubleTree general manager and president of the Tennessee Hospitality Association. “The last thing you do in this business, unless you want to be unsuccessful, is rest on your laurels. This is another opportunity to provide service.”


As with many of the stations installed via both programs, the DoubleTree’s charging station, which was just installed in March, hasn’t seen much traffic yet. However, the hotel has big plans for promoting and benefiting from its plug-in capability. The hotel is in the process of purchasing a Nissan LEAF, which it will use for maintenance and room-service deliveries at its five area hotels, as well as to offer hotel packages that give guests use of an EV to tour the city. In addition, with a Nissan plant manufacturing the LEAF not far from Chattanooga, Mish also is working hard to get all of the hotels in the Tennessee Triangle, a 425-mile stretch of land connected by three interstate highways, to install charging stations. 


“It’s very new,” Mish said. “The idea is that you have to have the infrastructure.”


Despite the upfront costs for those who got in early or are located in states that are ineligible for current incentives, and the lack of revenue-generating traffic, all of these operators say the investment already is paying off. 


“Not everyone believes in it,” Reimer said. “But people are talking about it, and that’s worth something.”