How much does it cost for a company to set up charging stations?

Preparing your company charging station project 

Setting up charging stations at the workplace is definitely the most practical solution for your staff members and your own management of the company fleet. However, this solution requires a lot of forethought and preparation. In order to succeed with your charging station project, you need to answer a few key questions first. 

Question time

Before doing anything else, start by quantifying/assessing the following points:

• How many vehicles will need to be charged at the same time?
• How many hours per day can the vehicles be parked at the charging station?
• How many kilometres/miles do the vehicles travel per day?
• What are the charging capacities of your fleet’s electric vehicles? 

The answers to these questions will help you determine the minimum power required for your future charging stations installed in your company premises. 

Location, location, location

Will the charging stations be set up in an underground parking area or outside?

This is an important question insofar as it will have a significant impact on the budget you should allocate to the project.

The further the charging station is away from the building’s electrical distribution board, the greater the financial investment required. Indeed, the costs will skyrocket if the power supply has to be extended to reach the charging station. 

The ideal scenario is to install a wallbox in an underground parking area. If this is not possible, then think about installing wallboxes outside, but as close as possible to the walls of the building. If it isn’t possible for the wallbox to be wall-mounted, then it can be installed on a floor-mounted stand.

Once you have established the major aspects of your project, you can get down to action: modifying your electricity subscription, choosing the charging station model, looking at the potential charging cables you should purchase, costing the installation of service providers etc. 

How much does it cost to set up a charging station?

All you have to do now is choose which charging station you want and the service provider to install it. Depending on your needs, the final price can vary tremendously. Here are three potential solutions to give you an idea of the prices in question (the prices are given in euros for the French market):

• AC Wallbox – 3 to 7 kW (single phase)
  • from €1,200 incl. VAT, including installation
  • slow charging
  • low vehicle turnover
  • vehicles can be plugged in for a full working day

• AC Wallbox – 11 to 22 kW (three phase)
  • from €2,500 incl. VAT, including installation
  • semi-fast to fast charging
  • higher vehicle turnover
  • vehicles have the charging capacity to cope with this power rating

• DC Wallbox – 20 kW or more
  • from €12,000 incl. VAT, including installation
  • rapid charging – charging takes a third of the time compared to AC charging
  • ideal when vehicles can’t be parked for a long time, for example in the event of frequent travel

You’ve got the message – these prices are for information only. Once again, everything will depend on what charging station you opt for, the supplier and the rates applied by the service provider installing the infrastructure. In France, the Advenir scheme offers grants for setting up charging points, think about looking up what schemes are available in your own country/region. 

We hope this article has cleared up a few questions about setting up charging points for your business fleet. And please, don’t hesitate to post up comments to share your experience, your opinions and what themes you would like us to address in future articles. See you soon!

Photo credit: Gustavo Fring – Pexels