Workplace Electric Vehicle Charging
Workplace charging for electric vehicles (EVs) is gaining popularity as EV adoption rises, but it isn’t mainstream yet. Most EV charging happens at home, but workplace solutions for charging are becoming more important for many reasons.
“Workplace charging is a popular feature if it is provided,” said Jukka Kukkonen, Chief EV Educator and Strategist at Shift2Electric. Kukkonen provides information and consulting for workplace charging setups and operates the workplacecharging.com website. The first thing he looks for is what the organization wants to accomplish.
There are several reasons to offer workplace EV charging solutions, including:
Support corporate green energy and sustainability initiatives
Offer a perk to employees who need charging
Provide a welcoming amenity to visitors
Maximize business fleet management and reduce costs
Support for Corporate Green Energy and Sustainability Initiatives
Companies may want to encourage their employees to start driving electric cars to reduce fossil fuel use and emissions. By offering workplace charging stations they are providing practical support for the shift to EV adoption. Support for EV adoption may be an overall corporate value. It may also be more strategic. Kukkonen offers the following example.
A large company with many employees might find that their office staff commuting to work creates more carbon emissions than the office building itself. Whereas they might be able to drop 10% of building emissions by being very energy efficient, they would accomplish far greater reductions by convincing their commuting staff to go electric. “They might find that they could reduce energy consumption by 75% if they can get all of the people who come to the office to drive electric.” Having workplace charging available encourages that.
The visibility of electric vehicle charging stations at the workplace has another impact. It creates an on-site EV showroom and fosters conversation around EV ownership. Said Kukkonen, “People see what their coworkers are driving. They ask their colleagues about it. They get connected and educated, and EV adoption accelerates.”
Perks for employees who need charging
As mentioned earlier, most EV charging happens at home. But some EV owners lack access to home charging stations. They may live in apartment buildings without charging infrastructure, or they may be new EV owners awaiting installation of a charging station at home. Workplace EV charging is a highly valued amenity for them.
Plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEV) have rather limited electric ranges (20-40 miles). If a round trip commute exceeds its electric range, charging at the workplace makes it possible for PHEV drivers to keep driving electric on the way home and avoid using their internal combustion engine (ICE).
Most fully electric vehicles feature ranges in excess of 250 miles on a full charge, and most daily commutes are far below that threshold. But for EV drivers who find themselves in a low charge situation, having the option to charge at work is a true benefit.
Post time: Nov-01-2023