The biggest barrier to installing EV (electric vehicle) charging at a workplace is not the actual infrastructure but the planning. EV expert Giles Benbow explains how, through early-stage consulting and practical help, Actemium can make the transition simple.

Running an EV-friendly business can bring both financial and reputational benefits. At Actemium, we work with many companies large and small who have realised this opportunity, usually those looking to offer EV charging for their employees or go electric with their commercial fleet.

Making the switch can be daunting and our customers often have a lot of questions:

“How do we know it is the right thing to do?”

“What infrastructure will we need?”

“Do we have the space?”

“Will people actually use it?”

“How do we prepare for the future?”

But with our help, companies can confidently answer all these and more.

Smaller than you think

For an organisation thinking of installing EV charging points in a staff car park, we look into the number of employees, the distances they typically travel and how frequently they are in the office to estimate the number of units needed.

Often the biggest concern for this type of customer is that they think they will need a lot of charging points, which could be expensive and take up valuable space. But the number is generally much smaller than they might think.

Electric cars have come a long a way over the last few years in terms of range, many of which can achieve 200-380 miles between charges. To put that into perspective, that’s further than from London to Sheffield and back on one charge.

And even if employees do have a fairly long commute, say 50 miles, they’re more likely to charge their car at home where it’s cheaper and more convenient.

Accurate calculations

For companies who run a fleet of vehicles – a delivery service, for example – and are considering moving over to EVs, we can provide an even more accurate calculation of their charging infrastructure needs.

We undertake an EV suitability study in which we match the number, size and type of vehicles in the fleet with EV equivalents and then use real-world data from a special telematics system to understand how far they travel and when.

This is really powerful insight as you can start tailoring the charging hardware according to the duty cycles and how much the vehicles need to charge.

Preparing for the future

In both cases we’ll also investigate whether a customer has enough power on site to cope with the additional electricity usage. If not, we’ll propose an appropriate new grid connection or energy storage device.

And even if they do have enough power already, we’ll look at future-proofing their site – what will the need be in 2025? Elon Musk’s Tesla semi truck, for example, which is planned to go into production within the next two years will need megawatt grid connections to charge a single vehicle.

Every step of the way

Armed with this knowledge, companies can make good business decisions regarding EV charging, and if they decide to go ahead, we can also install the charging points, new grid connection or energy storage device.

At Actemium, we guide our customers through every stage in the process to ensure a cost-effective charging solution that delivers the performance required and is optimised for their needs. With us, the transition EV has never been easier.

If you would like more information about Actemium’s workplace charging offer, click here