You’ve decided to make the switch: what next?

Sevadis discusses the fundamentals of deciding on an EV charging infrastructure plan for SMEs.

With supply issues continuing to cause delays for vehicle deliveries, businesses of all sizes are either waiting for their fleet of EVs to arrive, or at least, beginning to make the decision to make the electric transition to avoid further delays.

One key element to running a fleet of zero-emission vehicles is how the vehicles will charge – whether that be for a fleet of company cars, or for an operational fleet that contributes to the daily business activities.

Firstly, understanding how many EVs will be on your fleet plays an important role in the decision making process of deploying EV chargepoints at a site: is this number permanent, or will it increase? The latter is commonplace for SMEs that are making the transition to an electric fleet; with the future being electric (taking into account the ban on new ICE vehicles from 2030), businesses are mindful that operational vehicles will all be electric in the future. If the number of fleet EVs increases, businesses will need to consider a futureproofed EV charging strategy in which charging hardware and software are both scalable to fit the requirements of their wider fleet plans.

Businesses must also take into consideration whether their power supply can withstand demand. EV charging technology has evolved in the last decade, with more hardware and software providers offering intelligent solutions in the form of dynamic load balancing (allowing for charging of EVs without disrupting the site’s power supply, thus mitigating risk), meaning that in most scenarios, adding more EV chargepoints becomes less of a concern. However, for businesses with restricted supply where a large fleet plays a key part in business operations, extending the supply could become a costly option and one that requires further thought for businesses seeking to reduce costs.

When devising an EV charging infrastructure plan, understanding who will be using the charging points, whether that be the board of directors, the staff, the fleet drivers, or even the general public, is also a crucial decision. Under- pinning user-types will allow businesses to calculate costs per user/charging session, as well as allow them to deliberate their return on chargepoint investment. Additionally, deciding on whether the EV chargepoints are operated via a plug-and-play model, or via smartphone or RFID will provide the foundation for which chargepoint platform/software solution is the most effective.

Whilst the above are crucial elements in determining an EV chargepoint infrastructure plan, user cases do differ. There are a variety of considerations when it comes to EV chargepoint deployment, including who will install the EV charging points; how will data be stored and retrieved; where should the EV chargepoints be located.

For SMEs to benefit from a true EV chargepoint infrastructure strategy, working in collaboration with the EV charging hardware and software providers, as well as the EV chargepoint installer will provide the grounds for a future-proofed solution, benefitting both the EV chargepoint operators and the EV drivers.

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