More and more businesses are asking employees to return to the office, offering hybrid programs and other incentives to make that return more palatable. For many employees, this return creates a need to rework their work life balance, ensuring they are making time to meet their needs as well as the needs of friends and family. For some, that means a tight schedule and for EV drivers that can mean range anxiety.
Workplace EV charging stations can help those employees stay focused on the work day rather than scanning apps to see where they can get a top up before their next task, event, responsibility, obligation. For employers, it can make the difference between attracting and retaining top talent. There are benefits on both sides of this equation.
Let’s say you see those benefits, but the idea of designing and implementing an EV charging program seems daunting. We’re here to help!
Quick Links
- Why Start a Workplace EV Charging Program
- Is Your Workplace Ready for EV Charging?
- Challenges to Workplace EV Charging
- How to Create a Workplace EV Charging Policy
Why Start a Workplace EV Charging Program
Among workplace challenges, the struggle to find, hire, and retain talent is one of the most talked about and most prevalent. And, as more workers return to the office, often as part of a hybrid work from home program, employers are trying to make the workplace seem more attractive.
One way to attract talent and ease the back to office transition is to add EV charging stations. In fact, nearly 60% of EV drivers have said that workplace EV charging is vital for them and a determining factor in employment. Further, in one study 58% of respondents reported that a company’s sustainability efforts impacted their choice regarding where to work.
There are additional options, which we’ll discuss later, that allow business owners to leverage EV charging as part of a rewards and recognition program or even a workplace benefit. However, there are also opportunities for a revenue stream, depending on how you want to manage your workplace EV charging program.
For employees, the benefits of workplace EV charging are pretty clear. Most EV drivers charge at home because that’s where they have time to get a full charge and, with home chargers (Level 1) they need that kind of time. For most Americans, we spend nearly as much time at work as we do at home. For workers with a hybrid schedule, that still means a few days a week with a car parked for 4-8 hours at the workplace. With a Level 2 charger, that’s a perfect amount of time to fully charge or just get a top up.
And, if employees have after work errands, or need to get kids to and from activities, or even just a decent commute, charging at work means they can do any or all of those things without range anxiety. In turn, you have happier, less stressed employees, who can effectively manage their work life balance by getting where they need to be after work.
Is Your Workplace Ready for EV Charging?
The simple answer is yes, we’re all ready, but the real answer is a bit more complicated. In addition to some preliminary site analysis, you’ll want to ask some of the same questions we ask prior to implementation of potential public EV charging locations:
- Is there demand?
- Do you have employees who currently drive electric vehicles? Employees who plan to purchase an EV in the next year?
- Are there other charging stations in the area? (this may impact how you implement rather than whether you install or not)
- Do you have your own parking lot or parking garage?
- Is there access from an electrical panel to the potential location of EV charging stations?
- Would your business benefit from the presence of EV charging stations and a focus on sustainability?
- Would EV charging stations help you meet sustainability goals?
- Are there company vehicles which could be transitioned to electric vehicles in the future?
This is a starting point. Obviously, when it comes time for implementation and installation, there’s more work to be done, but if you’ve answered yes to most of those questions, you’re ready to get started!
Challenges to Workplace EV Charging
As the above questions hint, your parking situation could possibly be a challenge. That’s why working with a turnkey solution provider, one who will walk you through the process from site analysis to installation, is important. You’ll want the team architecting your site to have an in-depth understanding of every phase of the project.
For example, a small lot is a challenge, but not one that is insurmountable. It may limit the location and number of EV charging stations, but a small lot suggests a smaller company and this may be sufficient.
Another challenge, that we often see across sites, is power management. The power available to your site via the grid may be limited. The nature of your business may mean that during certain hours of the day there’s a particularly big draw on that available power. You may be sharing power with other buildings. In this way, power management becomes a primary focus for EV charging station owners.
With the right EV charging platform management system (CPMS), however, you can manage those power loads and adjust charging capacity to ensure you don’t overburden the grid. Further, depending on your site, your business, and a few other factors, there may be government grants of tax incentives available to you to help upgrade your site.
The final challenge workplaces may face are the same struggles others face when there is greater demand than available charging stations. More specifically, cars stay parked at a single charging station even though the vehicle is fully charged or multiple vehicles and drivers want to charge at the same time. Thankfully, how you implement your EV charging program can help you mitigate this challenge.
How to Create a Workplace EV Charging Policy
One of the big concerns for workplaces looking to implement EV charging programs is understanding how to create, implement, and manage your EV charging stations. To mitigate your need to monitor and maintain charging stations, you’ll want to choose an EVSE provider who provides exceptional network reliability. Knowing that your stations are up and running and available to your employees is the first step to success.
Similarly, as you're making your decision regarding your EVSE provider, one of the most important considerations is the CPMS. It is how you will manage, monitor, and maintain your charging stations so you’ll want something with maximum flexibility, transparency, and control. Having insight into your stations including who’s using them, when, and for how long can help you adjust your program once it has been established.
Still, how do you “establish” that program?
1. Determine your hosts
EV charging stations have owners (your business) and hosts. Hosts can be authorized by owners to administer and monitor the system. Permission level is set by the owner, so ultimate control still rests with the business owner, but your hosts can help manage the day to day operations of your charging stations such as receiving maintenance alerts.
These individuals may be your facilities manager or sustainability office, but for smaller organizations you may create an EV charging committee made up of EV drivers who self-administer the program. These individuals should also be responsible for enforcing the policies you establish.
2. Determine charger access and policies
This is crucial if your business is in a public area. You must determine who has access to charging stations. You can, for example, determine that during normal business hours only employees can charge, but after hours the charging stations may be open to the public. The U.S. Department of Energy has some charging policy ideas for interested workplaces.
You may want to consider charging schedules for employees to ensure everyone has the opportunity to use the stations. Similarly, you may wish to establish policies regarding fully charged vehicles. Thankfully, a flexible and powerful CPMS can help here by initiating fees for fully charged vehicles that remain at the station.
That said, if you establish policies clearly and at the start of your program, these issues should be kept to a minimum. Further, robust reporting and detailed usage information can help you adjust as needed.
3. EV charging station scheduling
As with any work program, creating a user group, messaging channel, and more can allow your EV drivers to communicate with one another about needs, issues, and more. However, there are a few options for you to ensure everyone who needs to can charge.
- Charging schedules- Everyone gets a set time, date, and an EV charging station. This is particularly effective for larger companies that have more EV drivers than stations. Assigning one group to each station allows them to communicate with one another more effectively and coordinate as needed.
- Reserve a station- Create a calendar or reservation system that allows EV drivers to sign up as needed.
- Self-managed- Remember that communication channel? If your company is small enough, allowing your EV drivers to manage, organize, and schedule their own charging may be the best bet. This keeps it simple, mostly, and allows users to coordinate with one another. The primary rule here is, typically, that chargers are on a first come first served basis and cars are moved when sufficient charge is reached.
- Limited time- You can, again using your CPMS, set charging time limits. Once the limit is hit, the charger assesses a fee which will encourage drivers to move along and free up the charging station for others.
Alternatively, you can mix and match these systems. It’s important, however, to get input from your EV drivers and employees who will be using the charging stations and find out what might work best for them.
4. Establish clear roles and responsibilities
As the station owners, businesses should be responsible for ensuring the stations are in working order (alerts via a CPMS are very helpful here) and in good condition. Further, they should ensure the physical safety of the locations such as ensuring there’s good lighting and more in the area.
That said, many businesses require registrations and waivers on file for EV charging station use. Once drivers register, a CPMS can help you manage user access. You’ll also want to consider requiring a waiver of liability that establishes the fact that EV drivers/employees are responsible for any risks associated with use of the EV charging station.
5. Pricing
Will you charge for EV charging station use? Offer free charging during business hours? For many businesses, fees are seen as a way to help cover the initial cost of installation and yet, fees can prevent employees from using the charging stations. On the flip side, EV charging as a benefit may raise equity concerns for non-EV drivers. There’s a lot to consider. Still, if you opt for fees, you may want to set up a fee schedule using your CPMS.
You may set low fees to help defray some costs and still keep it accessible, charge only after a certain amount of time (hours per day or week), tie charging benefits to other incentive programs, offer discounted charging rates during off-peak hours, or any combination of those.
Alternatively, you may opt not to charge at all. Regardless of your choice, you’ll definitely need a CPMS that can not only offer but also help you manage all of those choices. It’s why NovaCHARGE put so much focus on building a powerful and versatile CPMS– ChargeUP– which can provide all the flexibility you need to create and implement an EV charging program at your workplace.
There’s more interest than ever in workplace EV charging, so now’s the time to start making your plan. Get in touch with our team of experts. We’re happy to help answer any questions you have and plan your program!
