Read our covid-19 policy
With electric vehicles (EV) becoming more and more popular and the ever decreasing deadline date for the ban on combustion engines, it is becoming increasingly more important for businesses to introduce EV charging stations at workplaces.
Read Time : 5 Mins
With electric vehicles (EV) becoming more and more popular and the ever decreasing deadline date for the ban on combustion engines, it is becoming increasingly more important for businesses to introduce EV charging stations at workplaces. That’s why we’ve put together this guide explaining how you can effectively enable EV charging at work.
First things first, you’ll need to work out how many of your employees would actually benefit from an electric vehicle charging program to help you decide how many charging stations you’ll need to install. To do this, you could carry out a survey, perhaps via email, asking if the employee currently has an electric vehicle (or if they plan to invest in one soon), where and how they currently charge it and their distance from home to work.
This can give you an idea of which employees really need it e.g. those who cannot charge at home or those who drive over 100 miles to work and back as well as those who may require them in the near future to help you work out a rough estimate of the cost and whether your budget can afford it.
The Government’s Workplace Charging Scheme (WCS), businesses can receive grants to help towards the cost of purchasing and installing charging points at a workplace. The grant can cover up to 75% of the charging costs at a cap of £350 per socket to be put towards a maximum of 40 sockets available per company (which can be installed across different sites).
It’s important to note that all installations included on a single voucher must be the subject of a single claim. Once a voucher has been redeemed it can’t be re-used, even if the number of sockets installed is fewer than stated on the voucher.
You can apply for a grant through the WCS by visiting the government website here.
The right EV charger for your workplace depends on your organisation’s specific circumstances, including how many chargers you need, your budget and the compatibility with your employees’ cars. Here are some things to consider when choosing the right EV chargers for your company:
In order for your EV chargers to be a worthwhile investment, you’ll want to make sure that whichever you opt for are compatible with your employees’ cars in terms of the plug type and power. Most EV charger companies will have information about specific model compatibility on their websites to help you.
You should aim to find a user-friendly charger with helpful features such as facial recognition or app control. Smart charging technology can also allow you to see when and how an EV is being charged and will help you to avoid expensive infrastructure upgrades or fines from your utility companies should you ever go over your power output limits.
Whilst the cheapest EV charger may seem like the best option to help keep your costs down, it’s important that you make sure the charger you select has a suitable safety certificate, even if this means spending a little more. After all, you don’t want to be held responsible should there ever be any injuries or accidents due to unsafe chargers.
It’s also good to choose chargers that are equipped with a connector holder and a cable management system to avoid any trips, injuries or damages to the charger itself. Last but not least, you should also make sure that the charger comes with Integrated DC Protection as this can detect any energy leakage and shut off the current to protect your grid and reduce energy wastage.
Choosing the right installer is just as important as choosing the right charger as they are in charge of making sure they are installed safely and correctly so that they work as they should.
At National Energy Direct, we are a fully accredited multi utility connections company working nationwide across England, Scotland and Wales. We’re offering a one-stop shop service for implementing electric vehicle charging for domestic properties, business premises or large roll out of EV charging stations for commercial parks. From the installation of new electricity mains to the designing and installation of the charging stations themselves, you can count on us to prepare your business for the rise of electric vehicles.
Get in touch with our team at National Energy Direct today to discuss the installation of electric vehicle chargers at your workplace.
Get in touch today using our contact page to recieve help from one of our energy experts
Contact us