ENERGY
ON-SITE CHARGING POINTS For all workplaces, providing on-site charging points for clients, visitors and employees alike will become increasingly important moving forward as petrol and diesel-powered cars are phased out and replaced by EVs. There are a number of different schemes open to those looking to install this facility, including the government-backed Workplace Charging Scheme (https://bit.ly/3ACoq8y) which enables businesses, local authorities and charities to claim up to 75% of the charge point installation cost. This applies to up to a maximum of 20 charge points, each with a value of no more than £350, and the installation must be carried out by an Office for Low Emission Vehicles (OLEV accredited installer). Firms based in the United Kingdom (excluding the Channel Islands and Isle of Man) can claim and don’t necessarily need a plug-in vehicle on the company’s books. In Scotland, funding is available through a different scheme called the Energy Saving Trust. A ballpark figure for a standard, double-header charging unit is around the £1,500 mark, after the WCS Grant has been applied. But costs can escalate depending on the type of unit, its position and its charging speed. Customer and visitor electric cars will have different charging connectivity needs, so it is important to install a charging point most likely to be compatible with the widest range of vehicles possible. An Energy Management EV installation project manager offers advice on this and all other aspects of the EV charging infrastructure (https://bit.ly/3xOwpxp) process. In addition to the WCS, charging infrastructure providers operate fully-funded, loss leader and profit-making schemes. The fully-funded model is attractive in that it comes with no operational cost but it may not always be the most appropriate solution for your needs. With the loss leader model, EV charging is provided free by suppliers to grow market share by attracting and retaining customers, with costs offset by increased revenue gained through existing business activity. A free top-up charge can be the deciding factor for a driver in choosing where to offer their custom and the costs of offering, for example, 7kW charging to attract these drivers can be relatively modest. As such, your first consideration as a business should be whether you can offer charging for free to maximise the number of drivers you attract to your location, grow brand loyalty and encourage on-site spending. Meanwhile, with profit-making models a higher fee is levied on drivers to use the charge points. This fee covers operational, hardware and installation costs and provides a profitable revenue stream on top.
Profit-making models have broadly the same constraints as the cost recovery models, albeit with preferential financial spin-offs for those locations where there is no alternative for drivers to charge their vehicles. One downside is the risk of reputational damage as your business could be accused of unfairly exploiting drivers by setting tariffs too high. For further information on our EV infrastructure installation service, please call us on 01225 867722 and ask to speak to one of our consultants.
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