An Introduction to Electric Commercial Vehicles and Electric HGVs
We look at the electric commercial vehicle market in the UK, what...
Once you’ve got a fair idea of what you are looking for, you should contact a reputable charge point operator (such as Mer) to request a site visit before taking any further action.
The operator will be able to:
In order to provide you with an accurate quote, an operator will need to assess your site’s maximum electrical capacity and the space capacity (the difference between actual load used and the maximum available). Your site may need a load balancer to support additional electrical load.
The number and type of EVs using your charging infrastructure will impact the number and type of charge points needed.
Depending on power levels, your business will be able to install fast chargers 7.4kW up to 22kW or rapid/ultra rapid chargers up to 350kW. And yes, fast and rapid chargers will mean a quicker charge time, but they will also increase the electrical load.
It should also be considered that the number of vehicles being charged is closely linked to downtime – so specific business needs may mean you regularly have a large number of EVs charging for a long time all at once, meaning you will need more charge points – but they won’t necessarily need to be rapid/ultra-rapid chargers.
If your charge points will be used by employees, guests and customers, you may not always know the EV model types. Instead, you may need to focus on estimating usage based on what you do know or can find out – i.e. no. of employees with EVs, current customer and guest footfall and estimations of how many of those may use EVs.
The operator visiting you, will be able to advise on the best speed of charger(s) to accommodate most vehicle models. And at Mer, we tend to recommend starting off with a few chargers in this instance and assessing usage before expanding.
Your final EV charger installation costs will be heavily influenced by the distance between the charging station and the meter cupboard in your business premises. So location is very important.
The ground surface will also play a part – if complex digging is required costs will be higher.
And the length of cable needed underground will also impact the price.
To work out what type of charging hardware you need, you’ll need to know the answer to the following questions:
The advantage of choosing a tethered EV charger is that your employees won’t have to provide their own charging cable, especially now that many car manufacturers are moving to a type 2 cable. However, having untethered cables allows for more flexibility for those EVs with a different cable type.
You will be able to get further advice on hardware during your site visit.
If you want to clearly mark out your charge stations, you may want to consider signage.
In most cases, you won’t need planning permission to install charge points on your business premises. But you may do if the installation is:
Speak to your local council to ensure you have the right permissions.
It may come as a surprise, but the majority of the costs connected to EV chargers are often related to the day-to-day operating expenses, not the capital outlay. Keep an eye on the aspects below in the early stages of getting set-up and it will help you keep your ongoing costs low.
There are a lot of aspects to take into consideration when it comes to EV charger installation at business sites. However, understanding more about the process and the impact of your choices, will help you make smarter decisions throughout and you’ll see the benefits long-term.
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