How to increase occupancy with EV charging (and nine other tips from our Head of Product)

Do you know how to maximize the return on your parking spaces? Hint: Electric vehicle charging might be the smartest move you can make.

After more than a decade of developing our system for parking and EV charging, we’ve learned a lot about how to optimize the parking business — such as which usage models work best in residential properties, how pricing can influence occupancy rates throughout the day, and how EV charging can increase utilization. Our Head of Product, Oskar Ekman, shares his insights:

“That’s how you create the most seamless and user-friendly experience possible.”
— Oskar Ekman, Head of Product at Mobility46

Three Reasons to Combine EV Charging with Parking

1. Parking and charging in one app create a better customer experience

A great service should be easy to use — and that includes EV charging. The ideal customer experience is to manage both parking and charging in one place. Instead of two apps, two payment flows, and two points of contact (as when outsourcing charging to an external operator), everything is handled in a single app. Simple management equals happier customers — and fewer support cases for you.

2. Managing charging in the same system simplifies operations

You don’t need to reinvent the wheel. Everything you already do for parking can also apply to charging — for example:

• Monitoring and access control
• Allocating garage space for different usage types (visitor, unreserved, reserved)
• Payment handling (collecting payments from users and distributing revenue to property owners)
• Support and customer service

In other words, adding charging to your parking business increases revenue without adding workload.

3. The same usage models apply to both parking and charging

Within parking, there are three main usage models:

• Visitor parking
• Reserved parking
• Unreserved/permit-based parking

The same applies to EV charging. That’s another reason it’s so much easier to manage both parking and charging together — adding charging to your existing parking business increases revenue without adding complexity.

“If you want to maximize utilization, the same rules apply for EV charging as for parking.”
— Oskar Ekman, Head of Product at Mobility46

Six Tips for Building a Profitable Parking and Charging Offer

1. Focus on “Parking Charging”

While fast charging happens along highways or at stations, most charging occurs when cars are parked — at home or at work. That’s why we call it parking charging. You already own the parking asset, so adding EV charging means you can earn more while improving customer satisfaction — all within the same service experience.

2. Choose the right power level for your chargers

When vehicles are parked for longer periods and charged regularly, high power isn’t necessary. This means the existing electrical capacity in your property can serve more users — keeping everyone satisfied while lowering infrastructure costs.

3. Use the right usage model to maximize utilization

Each model has pros and cons. To maximize occupancy, the same logic applies to charging as to parking — unreserved use increases flexibility and overall utilization. Unreserved doesn’t have to mean public; you can install unreserved chargers and control access by user group or permit type. Of course, you can also open some for visitors if you wish.

4. Differentiate pricing by usage model

Pricing and utilization go hand in hand. Since different usage models drive different levels of occupancy, they should be priced accordingly.

Here are some general recommendations:

• Price visitor parking/charging higher than subscription or contract-based use.
• Price reserved spots higher than unreserved.
• Adjust pricing to balance demand: for example, lower prices for evening/night use if daytime occupancy is high.

Remember: the same pricing strategy applies for charging as for parking.

5. Tailor your strategy for residential and commercial properties

For commercial properties, use EV charging as an incentive to move tenants from reserved to unreserved parking. When a tenant requests charging, offer it on an unreserved spot — which usually costs less than their current reserved one. They’ll likely agree, since it’s cheaper and more convenient than driving to a public charger.

For residential properties, where most spaces are rented as reserved, you’ll need to focus on return on space. Reserved chargers can’t achieve the same high utilization as unreserved ones, so compensate through pricing — for example:

• Charge a higher subscription fee to cover hardware depreciation
• Add a variable kWh rate with a reasonable margin (benchmark against local public charger rates and stay slightly below)

6. The most common mistake we see…

Many property owners buy chargers for tenants but configure them for public use. While that may seem simpler (no need to manage access rights), it often causes operational and financial issues later.

We recommend taking a strategic approach from the start:

• Allocate chargers by user group (reserved, unreserved, visitor)
• Define prices for each type of charging
• Track and balance demand to optimize revenue and utilization

“Your tenant who’s just bought an EV will have a strong desire to charge it on your property — use that to your advantage!”
— Oskar Ekman, Head of Product at Mobility46

How to Introduce Charging While Increasing Occupancy

Do you want more flexibility in your garages, smarter pricing, higher occupancy, and even the ability to overbook spaces? Then it’s time to move from reserved parking to unreserved permit-based parking. But how do you convince existing tenants to make the switch? This is where EV charging becomes your best incentive.

When a tenant requests an EV charging spot, offer it on an unreserved basis. They’ll likely accept — it gives them faster access to charging and a lower overall price for both parking and energy. The alternative — keeping their reserved spot and using public chargers — is both less convenient and more expensive.

For you, it means one reserved spot is released, which can then be converted to unreserved use. As more tenants request charging, you can gradually transform your parking portfolio from reserved to unreserved, increasing occupancy, flexibility, and revenue.

Smart, simple — and everyone wins.

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