Understanding EV charge points for business
- Thursday, August 10, 2023
- Posted By The Growth Company
Having charge points at the workplace is becoming incredibly important for fleet vehicles, employees and visitors. As more of us adapt to EVs, we must expand the charging network and having them at work, where vehicles are either sat stationary for hours or needed to complete daily tasks, feels like a no-brainer.
Whether you're planning to change your fleet to EVs or hope to make life easier for your workforce, if you have a car park, installing your charge points at your workplace is a must.
However, charging an electric vehicle is not like filling a petrol or diesel car with fuel there are different types of chargers, adapters and sockets that you need to understand. This may seem complicated at first, but as demand for EVs grows this is becoming more standardised. Plus, like any technology, the more we use it the less complicated it will be.
EV chargers are classed as rapid or ultra-rapid, fast and slow, depending on their speed. Rapid chargers can charge a car to 80% in about 30 minutes while slow chargers can take up to 7 hours to charge, so there’s a huge difference.
Naturally, rapid chargers are the most expensive and in most cases they are unnecessary. Research shows that the majority of current EV users charge 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 should meet your needs. Slow chargers are much cheaper to install and are unlikely to incur any additional reinforcement costs.
As different EVs have different adaptors customer, employee and visitor EVs will have different charging connectivity needs. You should try to install charge points which are compatible with the widest possible range of vehicles. The good news is that as demand grows, EVs are becoming more standardised with Type 1 and Type 2 chargers being the most common.
View the RAC’s guide to charger types and connectors to learn more.
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.
When planning your charge point infrastructure it’s also important to 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.
You may need to implement a strategy in the workplace to ensure equal access to charge points. Remind employees that charge points are not parking spaces and should not be taken up for the entire day. It’s also important to understand different employees' commutes so that you can install the chargers they need.
The cost of purchasing your charge point units and the cost for installation will vary greatly, depending on the number and types of units you need.
Most commercial installations will also incur a connection charge from Electricity North West, depending on size and the number of charge points.
The government are offering grants under the Workplace Charging Scheme and the EV Infrastructure grant.
The Workplace Charging Scheme (WCS) is a voucher-based scheme that provides eligible applicants with support towards the upfront costs of the purchase and installation of electric vehicle (EV) charge points. It’s open to businesses, charities and public sector organisations, the scheme covers 75% of the total cost of the purchase and installation of EV charge points. It’s capped at 40 sockets across all sites per applicant.
The EV Infrastructure Grant is designed specifically for SMEs, to help cover up to 75% of the cost of installing the infrastructure needed to install and operate charge points now and in the future. There is a limit of £15,000 per grant. The installed infrastructure must support a minimum of 5 parking spaces with at least one working charge point.
Employers could also offset the cost of supplying charge points charging your customers, local community and employees for their use. Keeping this at a below-market rate for employees should keep them happy.
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.
One of the biggest worries for drivers considering switching to an electric vehicle is the availability and accessibility of chargers. Even if your business installs its own EV chargers, we understand that sometimes when you’re working on the road, your EV may need a little boost from time to time.
Today, there are around 360 publicly available EV chargers in Greater Manchester with approximately 700 connectors. You can view all of these chargers here, or using Zapmap, which will show you all public chargers available across the country.
By 2025, Transport for Greater Manchester estimates that this needs to grow to 2,700 fast and 300 rapid chargers. To support this, TfGM has created a map which allows you to suggest locations for public charge points and vote for your favourite locations. The map will be used to support their long-term planning and bids for government funding so please, drop a pin if there is a location that will suit you.
Bee Net Zero is gathering the support available to Greater Manchester organisations that can make switching to EVs easy; whether you’re electrifying your fleet, encouraging employee take up or simply installing chargers to futureproof your business.
To learn more about why your business should take up electric vehicles, how to do this and the support available across Greater Manchester, visit our campaign page.