Workplace & fleet EV charging
NICEIC certified workplace and fleet EV charging installations across the North East. OZEV Workplace Charging Scheme application handled. Smart load management. Multi-site centralised billing. From 2 chargers to 100+.
Around 24% of new UK car sales are now battery EVs (SMMT 2026 figures). The trajectory is unambiguous — workplace charging is becoming infrastructure, not a perk. Staff with EVs need to charge somewhere, and the workplace is the second-most-used location after home.
Three commercial cases stack up most often: staff retention (mid-career EV drivers actively factor workplace charging into job choices); fleet decarbonisation (Scope 1 emissions reduction, often required by tender or B Corp recertification); and customer service for retail, hotel and leisure venues where dwell time is long enough for charging to be meaningful.
Up to 75%
OZEV grant covers install cost
£350
Per socket OZEV cap
40 sockets
OZEV scheme max per business
£14,000
OZEV total cap per workplace
OZEV Workplace Charging Scheme
The OZEV Workplace Charging Scheme provides up to £350 per socket, capped at 40 sockets per applicant — total £14,000 maximum. It covers up to 75% of the install cost per socket. Most businesses with off-street parking dedicated to staff or fleet use qualify.
We complete the OZEV application on your behalf as part of the project. The grant value is deducted from your final invoice — there's no separate claim, no waiting period after install. Sequence: free site survey, fixed-price quote with OZEV deduction applied, signed quote, OZEV voucher issued (typically 2-4 weeks), install scheduled, invoice issued with grant value applied.
The separate OZEV EV Infrastructure Grant for staff and fleets covers wider infrastructure work (substations, cabling, civils) and can stack with the per-socket Workplace Charging Scheme. Useful for larger installs where the supply needs upgrading. We assess eligibility for both during the survey.
Workplace EV charging cost
Per-charger installed cost typically falls between £1,000 and £2,500 depending on cable run length, supply availability and authentication/billing requirements. Larger installations benefit from economies of scale on civils and cabling; OZEV grant brings net per-socket cost down by up to £350.
| Site type | Typical chargers | Configuration | Indicative cost | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Small office / retail | 2-5 chargers | Single-phase 7kW | £3,500-£9,500 | Typical for offices under 50 staff |
| Medium workplace | 6-15 chargers | 7kW single-phase + load balancing | £11,000-£32,000 | Office parks, larger retail |
| Large workplace / hotel | 16-40 chargers | Mixed 7kW + 22kW three-phase | £35,000-£90,000 | Multi-site billing usually required |
| Fleet depot / logistics | 20-100+ chargers | 22kW + DC rapid + smart load | Bespoke | Requires DNO supply uprate analysis |
| Destination charging | Visitor-facing | 7-50kW mix | Bespoke | Hotels, retail parks, leisure venues |
Use cases
Most common configuration. 7kW chargers in dedicated staff bays, with smart load management so total power draw stays within the available supply. Authentication via RFID card or app; billing either free-as-perk, at-cost, or commercial rate.
Dedicated fleet bays with higher charge rate (22kW three-phase) for vehicles that need full daily turnaround. Centralised reporting on fleet kWh consumption for mileage cost allocation.
Customer-facing chargers at hotels, retail parks, leisure venues. Payment via card/app at point of charging. Useful both as a customer service and a small revenue stream.
Most workplaces end up needing a mix — staff fast-charge bays, slow-charge overnight bays, visitor chargers, and sometimes fleet rapid charging. Smart load management lets all of these share a single grid supply.
Smart load management
The biggest commercial-EV trap is over-specifying the supply. A naive install assuming every charger runs at full 7kW concurrently typically demands a 100kW+ supply for 15 chargers — which often means a DNO substation upgrade costing £30,000-£100,000+. Smart load management eliminates that.
Dynamic load balancing distributes the available supply across all active chargers. If you have 15 chargers and a 40A site supply, the system might run 4 chargers at full 7kW while throttling the others to 3kW each. As cars unplug, throttled chargers ramp up. Total throughput stays within supply limit; users get a full overnight charge without anyone realising they were sharing capacity.
Combined with solar PV on the site roof, smart load management can route surplus solar directly to charging vehicles during the day — turning workplace solar into effectively free fleet fuel. For a site already considering both commercial solar and workplace EV, the combined install is materially cheaper than two sequential projects.
Billing & access
Free charging as a staff perk
Simplest. Chargers are open-access for staff or RFID-gated to authorised users. No billing infrastructure needed. HMRC currently classes workplace charging as a tax-free benefit, so no P11D implications. Best for: smaller workplaces, retention-focused approach.
Charge at cost (pence per kWh)
RFID or app-authenticated, billed monthly via salary deduction or invoice. Pass-through rate at your commercial electricity cost (typically 20-30p/kWh). Fair for staff without subsidising charging at company expense. Best for: medium and large workplaces.
Commercial rate (revenue-generating)
Public-facing or visitor charging at a margin above cost (typically 40-60p/kWh). App-based payment (Octopus Electroverse, Zap-Map, Bonnet integrations). Small revenue stream and useful as a customer service for hotels, retail parks. Not usually deployed for staff-only use.
Fleet charging
Driver RFID cards or central app, with kWh consumption logged per vehicle for fleet management software (Webfleet, Geotab, Mobilize, etc.). Useful for mileage accounting, fuel cost allocation, P11D reporting.
Workplace Charging Scheme
The Workplace Charging Scheme (WCS) gives businesses up to £14,000 against EV chargepoint installs at their premises. Run by OZEV, it's the largest single subsidy for commercial EV infrastructure in the UK. We apply on your behalf — usually approved within 5-10 working days.
£350
per chargepoint socket
40 max
sockets per applicant
5-10 days
typical OZEV approval time
Beyond standard 7 kW
For higher-energy workplaces (fleet depots, hotels, retail parks) and multi-site organisations, the standard 7-22 kW AC chargepoint isn't the right answer.
DC Fast Charging
22 kW three-phase AC is the standard for fleet depots and dual-use commercial sites — full 60-80 kWh charge in 3-4 hours. 50 kW DC fast for hotel/leisure customer use (1-hour top-ups). 150 kW DC for motorway-adjacent retail or HGV-grade vehicles. We install Project EV, Rolec, EO, Alfen and Tritium hardware.
Multi-site rollout
For organisations rolling out EV charging across a property portfolio (BTL landlords, retail chains, NHS estates, council depots), we offer a single multi-site framework agreement — consistent specification, single point of contact, phased install rollout. WCS applies per-applicant per-site (up to 40 × £350 per site).
Sector specialisms
Staff retention play. 4-8 sockets in employee parking, RFID-controlled. Free charging now generally tax-free. Typical install: 6 × 7 kW with smart load management.
Overnight depot charging for commercial fleet. 22 kW each + central scheduling for off-peak tariff arbitrage. Webfleet / Geotab fleet-management integration.
Guest amenity + revenue. 4-12 sockets covering car park, mix of 7 kW (overnight) and 22 kW (day-trip). Public-facing tariff via Bonnet / Octopus Electroverse.
Footfall driver. Dwell time matches charging time (1-2 hours retail visit). 22 kW or 50 kW DC. Per-kWh tariff at commercial markup.
NHS trust patient/visitor + staff parking. PSDS-funded where part of broader decarbonisation. RFID + visitor-app split-access.
Staff parking + visitor parking. Often combined with PSDS-funded solar + heat pump retrofit. STEM curriculum integration with live charging dashboards.
Our accreditations
MCS Certified
NAPM47760
Heat pumps & solar
NICEIC Approved
D124458
Electrical contractor
Gas Safe Register
947841
Gas appliances
Heat Geek Trained
Heat pump design specialists
TrustMark
Government endorsed
Quality scheme
SafeContractor
Approved
H&S accredited
ISO 9001
2015
Quality management
ISO 14001
2015
Environmental management
ISO 45001
2018
OH&S management
PAS 2030
:2019
Retrofit standard
NAPIT
Member
Electrical inspection
F-Gas Certified
Air conditioning refrigerant
MCS Certified
NAPM47760
Heat pumps & solar
NICEIC Approved
D124458
Electrical contractor
Gas Safe Register
947841
Gas appliances
Heat Geek Trained
Heat pump design specialists
TrustMark
Government endorsed
Quality scheme
SafeContractor
Approved
H&S accredited
ISO 9001
2015
Quality management
ISO 14001
2015
Environmental management
ISO 45001
2018
OH&S management
PAS 2030
:2019
Retrofit standard
NAPIT
Member
Electrical inspection
F-Gas Certified
Air conditioning refrigerant
Every accreditation listed is independently verified. We carry the registration numbers — ask for any on request.
Free site assessment, OZEV grant eligibility check, fixed-price quote within 2 weeks. Multi-site discounts for 3+ properties.
