While forecourt operators with EV chargers mull over what customers might buy from the shop while they wait for their batteries to be replenished, car dealer Arnold Clark has decided it might as well tempt drivers into new-car showrooms with free coffee.
The firm has just installed six ultra-rapid EV bays at a BYD dealership in Newcastle, and says those waiting for electrons to shuffle about are welcome to pop into the showroom and grab a coffee, just as they can at other Arnold Clark branches with charging facilities.
The conversion rate from window-shopping coffee drinker to BYD buyer will presumably be low, but given the Chinese firm overtook Tesla at the start of the year to be the world’s biggest seller of electric cars, customers are clearly out there.
Similarly, car dealerships are often to be found in locations with little else going on from a retail and hospitality perspective, so a meaningful percentage of drivers may find a new-car showroom more interesting than a stationary car as they wait the 30 to 60 minutes it typically takes to top up an EV’s battery.
Arnold Clark has put £30m into its chargepoint arm and is now the second-largest operator in Scotland, despite having only begun installing devices in 2024. The firm charges just 55p per kWh of electricity, significantly below the industry average price of 76p for ultra-rapid sessions.
Pablo Levi, group sustainability manager for Arnold Clark, says the firm wants “to make electric vehicle charging as simple, affordable and accessible as possible, whether customers are travelling locally or on longer journeys”.
