“Should we add EV charging?” is the question most sites start with. It’s not the most useful one. A better place to begin is: who is actually asking for it here? Demand for charging at any given location isn’t abstract. It comes from specific, identifiable groups, and once you know who they are and how predictable their needs are, the right approach usually becomes clear. The backdrop is that demand is real and still climbing, but it’s uneven. Electric vehicles reached a record 12.6% of new U.S. light-duty sales in the third quarter of 2025, yet charging isn’t keeping pace, with only one new public charging port added for every 30 newly registered EVs. That gap is exactly why your own location is what matters. So who’s asking?
Your Fleet and Operations
If you run vehicles, this is usually the biggest and most predictable ask, and it’s where the fleet-first logic pays off. Fleet demand isn’t a hunch. It’s shaped by duty cycles, routes, and the hours your vehicles sit at the depot, which means you can plan for it with real precision.
Commercial and public fleets, from delivery vans to transit and school buses, are past the “someday” stage and charging today. Because this demand is measurable and tied directly to keeping vehicles on the road, it’s often the anchor that justifies a charging investment in the first place.
Your Workforce
The next group is quieter but growing: employees who’ve gone electric, or want to, and would charge during the workday. Workplace charging often starts with a handful of requests and builds from there.
Here’s the part worth noting, though. Charging availability doesn’t just meet demand, it creates it. In Pew Research Center surveys, 58% of Americans who are confident the country will build enough charging said they’d seriously consider an EV, versus just 16% of those who aren’t confident. Put chargers where your people spend their day and more of them will make the switch.
Related: What Residents Look for in EV Charging at Their Building
Residents and Tenants
If you manage housing or mixed-use property, your residents are asking too, often more loudly than owners realize. For renters especially, dependable on-site charging has moved onto the short list of amenities that shape where they choose to live. It’s a demand worth taking seriously as EV ownership climbs in the communities you serve.
Visitors, Customers, and the Public
For retail, hospitality, and destination sites, some of the ask comes from people who don’t live or work there at all. Drivers increasingly factor charging into where they stop, shop, and linger. If your location is a place people visit, charging can be a reason they choose you over the site down the road.
Related: Common Mistakes Fleets Make When Planning Charging
The Organization Itself
Sometimes the need is internal. Sustainability commitments, public-facing goals, or simply the need to stay competitive can put charging on the agenda before a single driver requests it. That’s a legitimate source of demand too, and often the one that sets the timeline.
Turning “Who” Into a Plan
The value in asking who’s actually requesting charging is that it keeps you from guessing. Look at the signals you already have: your fleet’s electrification plans, the vehicles showing up in your lot, requests from employees or residents, and the role your site plays, whether that’s a depot, a workplace, or a destination. Good EV charging management software makes those patterns visible over time, so you can match the number and placement of chargers to real demand instead of over- or under-building.
Whoever is asking, they all need the same thing underneath: charging they can count on. Reliability is what turns charging from a headache into an asset, and it’s what keeps the people who asked for it satisfied once it’s in the ground. OpConnect helps businesses, fleets, and property owners plan and run dependable charging built around the demand at their specific location. If you’re trying to figure out who’s asking at yours, you can start at opconnect-ev.com.
Sources & Further Reading:
- Pew Research Center – About 3 in 10 Americans Would Seriously Consider Buying an Electric Vehicle: https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2024/06/27/about-3-in-10-americans-would-seriously-consider-buying-an-electric-vehicle/
- Automotive Fleet – U.S. EV Adoption Is Climbing, but Commercial and Passenger Markets Diverge: https://www.automotive-fleet.com/news/us-ev-adoption-is-climbing-but-commercial-and-passenger-markets-diverge