The global transition to electric mobility has reached a defining structural milestone. As charging networks move beyond early-adopter “pioneering” into mass-market scale, the leadership at the helm of the industry’s software backbone is shifting to meet new enterprise demands. Driivz, a Vontier (NYSE: VNT) company and a global heavyweight in EV charging and energy management, has appointed Shiri Levi-Laor as its new Chief Executive Officer.
Levi-Laor, who joined as COO at the start of 2025 and brings two decades of leadership from giants like SAP, Salesforce, and Amdocs, takes the reins following Andrew Bennett’s move to Group President of Convenience Retail for Vontier in October 2025. Under her leadership, Driivz remains focused on enabling EV charging providers to deliver seamless experiences, scale networks, and solidify profitability through smart charging and energy management.
“We’re at a defining moment in the global energy transition, and Driivz is uniquely positioned to lead it with the people, technology, vision, and scale our customers need to succeed,” said Levi-Laor. “Our focus is clear: continue delivering innovation that matters, solutions that scale, and value that lasts for our customers and partners.“
To explore how Driivz plans to reshape the customer experience for C-stores and fuel retailers, EV Charging Magazine spoke with Levi-Laor about shifting from “cents-per-gallon” loyalty to leveraging discretionary dwell time.
Loyalty Landscape
Q1: Fundamental Shift
What is the single biggest difference between fostering loyalty for traditional fuel customers and cultivating loyalty among the new EV charging customer base, particularly in a C-store or fuel retailer setting?
Shiri Levi-Laor: The biggest shift is that time flips from something customers want to escape into something retailers can actually win with.
Gasoline loyalty is built around minimizing friction.
You have about five minutes. The customer is rushed, car-tethered, and price-sensitive. Loyalty is driven by proximity, speed, and cents per gallon. The fuel is the visit.
EV charging changes that dynamic entirely.
The average EV driver is on site for roughly 20–30 minutes. That’s not dead time — it’s discretionary time. Charging is just the reason they stopped. What determines loyalty is how valuable or pleasant those minutes feel.
This is why EV drivers behave differently:
• They’re significantly more likely to enter the store
• They spend more on food and services
• They’re choosing destinations, not just routes
So the loyalty question shifts from “Is this the cheapest place on my way?” to “Is this where I actually want to spend half an hour?”
And the proof is in the numbers:
- 45% more EV drivers enter the c-store (they have time and nothing else to do)
- 25% higher food spend (they’re making it a meal stop, not just grabbing a snack)
This is why BCG identified the “Mobility and Convenience Hub” as the most profitable future format – it’s designed around the experience during dwell time, not just the transaction speed. The future winners won’t be the fastest or cheapest chargers — they’ll be the locations that turn dwell time into a better experience. Loyalty moves from discounts to reasons to stay: quality food, clean facilities, seating, Wi-Fi, and a sense that the stop respected the customer’s time.
Q2: Tech-Native Consumers
How does Driivz leverage the “tech native” characteristic of EV owners when designing white-label apps and loyalty programs, and how does this differ from traditional C-store marketing?
Shiri Levi-Laor: EV drivers bring the expectations of a digital-first life into the physical world. They expect clarity, control, and zero friction – and they abandon experiences quickly when those aren’t met.
That’s why we design EV loyalty very differently from traditional C-store marketing.
With Driivz, retailers don’t just “add chargers.” They operate a fully integrated, white-label digital experience – from charger discovery to payment to loyalty — all in one app, under their own brand.
The platform connects charging, POS, loyalty, pricing, and payments through a single cloud system, so retailers can:
• recognize the customer
• personalize offers
• reward behavior across fuel, charging, food, and services
The shift is from mass promotions to contextual, real-time engagement — designed for customers who are already comfortable living in apps and expect the physical experience to keep up.
Q3: Measurable Value
Beyond the charger itself, what is the key value proposition a C-store must offer to an EV driver to get them to choose their location over a competitor?
Shiri Levi-Laor: Reliability — not just uptime, but confidence.
A failed charge isn’t an inconvenience; it reinforces range anxiety. That’s why metrics like First-Time Charge Success matter more than raw availability numbers. From the driver’s perspective, success is simple: Did I plug in and charge without thinking about it?
But reliability alone isn’t enough.
The winning locations combine: predictable, seamless charging, a single app for discovery, charging, payment including flexible payment options and complementary services that make the stop worthwhile : Clean restrooms, food worth eating, safety, seating, even spaces to work and even saunas (in some countries) – these aren’t “extras” anymore. They’re part of the value proposition.
Implementation and Strategy
Q4+Q5: The Time Factor & Data Personalization
How are Driivz’s platform features specifically designed to utilize extended stop time to drive in-store engagement? Can you share how data gathered via the app is used to deliver a personalized experience?
Shiri Levi-Laor: Extended dwell time only matters if you use it intelligently.
By integrating charging data with POS and loyalty systems, retailers can understand how long drivers stay, when they visit, and what they buy — and then act on it in real time.
That enables practical personalization:
• timely offers while the car is charging
• rewards that match visit patterns
• incentives that feel helpful, not intrusive
The goal isn’t to overwhelm customers with promotions. It’s to make the experience feel thoughtful — like the site understands why they’re there and respects their time.
Q6: Partner Integration
You’ve worked with major retailers like Sheetz and ON the RUN. What is the most critical integration challenge C-stores face when launching a sophisticated EV loyalty program?
Shiri Levi-Laor: The biggest challenge isn’t any single system — it’s breaking down silos.
Charging platforms, POS, loyalty engines, payments, energy systems — they all generate valuable data, but they rarely talk to each other. Without aggregation and intelligence on top, retailers can’t see the customer holistically or act in real time.
That’s where scale platforms matter. By unifying these systems through a centralized cloud layer, retailers can move from disconnected transactions to predictive, insight-driven experiences — and that’s where loyalty actually becomes defensible.
As part of Vontier and in close collaboration with other Vontier companies, Driivz is well positioned to deliver a fully connected energy and retail ecosystem, with unified loyalty programs across POS systems, EV chargers, traditional fuel, and car washes—all managed through a centralized cloud platform that reimagines the end-to-end customer experience.
The Future
Q7: The Next Iteration
Looking ahead 3-5 years, what future technology or consumer behavior do you anticipate will most significantly change the way C-stores and fuel retailers approach EV driver loyalty?
Shiri Levi-Laor: Customer expectations will keep rising , not because of energy companies, but because of everything else in their digital lives.
The future isn’t about adding chargers. It’s about re-architecting the site around the customer experience.
We’re moving toward EV charging hubs that look less like fuel stations and more like purpose-built destinations: reliable charging, strong digital integration, quality amenities, and environments people actually want to spend time in.
The retailers who win will be the ones who stop thinking about EV charging as infrastructure — and start treating it as a new loyalty moment.
Beyond the Transaction
Under Shiri Levi-Laor’s leadership, Driivz is signaling a shift in how the industry views the EV driver. By treating charging as a “loyalty moment” rather than mere utility, Driivz helps retailers bridge digital expectations and physical reality. EV Charging Magazine will continue tracking Driivz’s innovations—stay tuned for updates on Vontier ecosystem integrations and C-store case studies. As the mobility landscape transforms, success for modern convenience hubs will be defined by mastering dwell time—turning 20 minutes of charging into lifetime brand loyalty.
