A guide to the Workplace Charging Scheme for electric vehicles

For employees, charging at work can be a convenient way to recharge an electric vehicle (EV) whilst parked during the day. For businesses, the installation of a charge point will become increasingly important as a facility for employees and visitors, as well as companies that are considering an EV fleet in the future.

What do you need to know about the Workplace Charging Scheme (WCS)

Funded by the Government’s Office for Low Emission Vehicles, businesses will receive a grant that reduces the costs of having an EV charging point installed on their grounds.

The grant is open to most businesses, including charities and local authorities. The applicant is able to claim 75% of the total cost of installation, up to a maximum of £500 per socket installed. Businesses are allowed to apply for a maximum of 20 sockets (or 10 double sockets) across the site, which means that a full EV fleet should soon be possible.

When a business is applying, they need to declare why they need the EV charging points. For example, an organisation could claim that they need the point for:

Existing EV fleet vehicles
As an added incentive for staff to take on EVs
Providing a charging station for company visitors
In preparation for EVs that the business plans to buy or lease in the future

However, it is important to remember that a company cannot claim for existing EV charging points. They also need to have dedicated, off-street parking for their workers, visitors or for potential fleet use.

How does the Workplace Charging Scheme work?

For businesses that want to install charging points around their grounds, the application process is fairly simple.

First, the business needs to complete an online application
If successful, the applicant will be emailed a voucher code, which they can then give their Office for Low Emission Vehicle (OLEV)-approved installer. They will claim the grant after the installation has been finished
It is important to note, that these vouchers do expire after 120 days from the date of issue

The Government have created a full guide that highlights the specific terms and conditions of the application process, which you can read here.

What do businesses need to consider?

Daily driver mileage

This is one of the most important considerations that a company has to make when considering installing workplace-charging points. This becomes especially important when the daily mileage of a driver starts to exceed the maximum real-world range of the EV. This is because the charging time would need to be factored into points during their working day.

Vehicle downtime

In some organisations, vehicles can often spend time stationery during the working day. If this is the case for a business, then the downtime represents an opportunity to charge an EV with little or no change to driver behaviour. However, if they are taking multiple, shorter journeys, a company may need to consider installing fast-charging points.

Electrical demand

The planned number of EVs entering a fleet is important as it will have an impact on the number and type of charging points the business chooses. For example, some vehicles may only be compatible with slow charging points, whereas newer models may be able to use fast charging.

At the same time, companies need to consider how often each vehicle is being used, and how much demand this will place on their electrical supply.

For example, a very similar amount of available capacity would be required to run a fleet of 10 EVs in the following ways: