Charge points for business

Having charge points at the workplace will become increasingly important as a facility for employees and visitors. If you're planning to change your fleet to EVs, installing your own charge points is a must. But there are a number of things to consider ...

Types of charge point

Last updated 2 December 2022

Research shows that the majority of current EV users are charging their vehicles for three hours every two days. With this type of behaviour, 13 amp sockets (slow chargers) or a mix of slow and a few fast chargers may meet your needs. Slow chargers have the advantage of being much cheaper to install and are unlikely to incur any additional reinforcement costs.
Customer, employee and visitor EVs will have different charging connectivity needs, so you should install charge points which are compatible with the widest possible range of vehicles.

Charge point position

Most workplace installations select wall-mounted units as they are typically cheaper to install. The alternative is to install posts, which are good on-street options but usually have higher installation costs due to the need to get the electricity to the post under the ground.
If you have a reverse parking policy at your workplace, consider where to fit your charge points as most EVs have a bonnet-mounted charge socket.
For larger vehicles consider the size, height and access of the vehicle when planning your charging infrastructure. Some vans, trucks and buses have side-mounted charge sockets which could restrict the use of wall-mounted charge points with limited cable lengths.

Charging behaviour

When planning your charge point infrastructure you should consider how many vehicles will need to use the charge points at the same time, how long drivers will need to charge their vehicles and at what time of day.

Cost

The cost of purchasing your charge point units and the cost for installation will vary greatly, depending on the number and types of unit you need.
Most commercial installations will also incur a connection charge from us, depending on size and the number of charge points.
The cost of supplying charge points could be offset by charging your customers and employees for their use.
If you plan to install charge points in publicly accessible areas, consider installing units that can prevent unwanted access using a key or radio-frequency identification (RFID) card.
You may wish to consider installing innovative ‘smart’ charge points which can be remotely accessed and are capable of receiving, interpreting and reacting to a signal. Smart charging can help reduce your energy bills by restricting charging to periods when electricity rates are cheapest. This can also help reduce peak demand on the electricity network.