Understanding demand for workplace EV charging in the Gulf

What is shaping energy

The energy transition brings rooftop solar, clean cooking, EV charging and efficient appliances to homes and businesses. Adoption depends on cost, trust, financing and after-sales support.

• Rooftop solar adoption depends on financing and installer trust
• Clean cooking programmes need sustained use, not just connections
• Businesses are setting their own transition targets

An energy services company, working in United Arab Emirates & Qatar. Client identity is withheld to protect confidentiality.

Organisation

An energy services company

Sector

Energy

Team engaged

Market Research

Services

Business panel, Quantitative research, Research consultancy

Electric vehicle adoption was rising, and the company wanted to offer workplace charging but did not know how many employers would invest or how employees would use it. Public charging was limited, and many residents lived in apartments without home chargers.

• Deliver on the brief: understanding demand for workplace EV charging in the Gulf.
• Understand the views, needs and behaviour of facility managers.
• Understand the views, needs and behaviour of employees.
• Measure how widespread each pattern is, and explain the reasons behind it.
• Give the client evidence it can act on within 7 weeks.

The work focused on 40 facility managers and 1,500 employees.

• facility managers40
• employees1,500

Audiences we typically reach in energy

HouseholdsSmall businessesInstallers and channel partnersProgramme beneficiariesEnergy managers

Coverage: United Arab Emirates & Qatar. Markets: United Arab Emirates and Qatar.

• United Arab Emirates
• Qatar

A mixed-method design: structured research measured how widespread each pattern was, and qualitative conversations explained why.

1. 1Brief
2. 2Facility manager interviews
3. 3Employee survey
4. 4Insight

We interviewed facility managers about plans, budgets and concerns, and surveyed employees about vehicle plans and charging needs. Interviews covered office towers, malls, hospitals and industrial sites, and the survey was offered in English and Arabic.

Business panelQuantitative researchResearch consultancy

facility managers

40

employees

1,500

• Business respondents were screened on role, company size and involvement in the decision before being invited.
• Online respondents were drawn from verified panel members who matched the screening criteria, with quotas on key profile attributes.
• Qualitative participants were recruited purposively to cover the full range of experiences that mattered, rather than for statistical representation.

• The online survey was mobile-friendly and offered in respondents' languages.
• Interviews and discussions were led by experienced moderators using a guide agreed with the client.

• Digital fingerprinting and duplicate checks
• Attention, speed and straight-lining checks
• Review of open-ended answers
• Recordings and transcripts for every session
• Re-screening of qualitative recruits
• Logic and range checks on the final data
• Work carried out under our ISO 20252 quality procedures

• Cross-tabulation by key groups and locations
• Significance testing on the differences that mattered
• Thematic coding of interviews and discussions
• Journey and decision mapping

• Employers were interested if charging was offered as a managed service with no upfront cost.

Removing upfront investment unlocked employer interest.

• The company launched a subscription-based workplace charging offer.
• Several large employers signed up for pilots within months of launch.

What we recommended, and the client put into practice

• Employee usage data from pilots helped employers plan the number of chargers needed as adoption grew.

• Insight report and management presentation
• Cleaned data file and data tables

• Repeat the measure after changes are in place to track progress.
• A natural follow-on question: did an energy programme deliver results?