How to choose a commercial EV charging station

How to choose a commercial EV charging station

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The future is firmly associated with electric vehicles. Therefore, you may feel the necessity to adapt your business to this future by installing an EV station at your spot.

However, it would be not wise to purchase the first found one. In contrast, as this charging facility is to add more value to your business, you need to choose the one that will do it the best. Here, we present three questions that help you choose an EV charging point that suits your business needs.

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1. Who will be its end users?

Here, you get a vision of what unit you need both regarding the AC/DC type and its power output. To be more specific, you need to have a clear idea about two things:

• What cars they drive
• How long they typically stay at your place

For example, let’s discuss three different cases to give you more understanding of your options.

For your employees

First, if you purchase an EV charger for your personnel, you will unlikely need any rapid DC facilities. In other words, even an AC unit of 7 kWh may be enough to top up their batteries during their working hours. However, if the electric fleet is a large-battery one, you’d better turn your head to more powerful EV charging points.

For your customers

Second, if you purchase an EV charger to attract more customers, you still don’t need a DC unit. However, a 7-kWh station may be too weak to satisfy the needs of your customers. For example, if you own a café near a highway, the average time the customer spends at your place may be only half an hour. Thus, a 7-kWh appliance can’t prepare their EVs for further trips. Yes, sometimes you can request a charge point service and upgrade your existing device. But this can be done not with any unit.

For the EV charging business

Third, if you open an EV charging business, you need to have a clear idea of what your targeted audience is. For example, if you target the owners of middle-powered cars, you may consider 11 or 22-kWh AC units. In contrast, if you also target the owners of more powerful vehicles such as Tesla or Porshe Taycan, you may need a DC station.

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2. How many electric vehicles do you plan to charge simultaneously?

Here, you determine the number of cables or ports the station should be equipped with. As well as the number of stations you need. For example, one 2-cable unit is exactly what you need in the following cases:

• you plan to use the appliance at your workplace and have just a few employees with electric cars
• the number of customers’ EVs you usually have at your spot at the same moment rarely exceeds two cars​

However, this question goes even further and touches your company policy. For example, you can install one 2-cable unit of 11-kWh and schedule your employee charging session. Or, if you plan to use the station as a free EV charging facility for your customers, you may deem it appropriate to cover only 30-50% of their EV charging needs.

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3. What is your budget?

Definitely, a budget not only matters but may affect the answer you give to the previous question. Moreover, knowing the budget, you can answer the following questions:

• How many and of what brand and features EV chargers can you afford to purchase?
• Can you arrange the required electrical capacity to install as many units as you need?

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Instead of conclusion

Now, it comes to other things to consider. In other words, it is about some must-have features of a commercial EV charger. We recommend you to choose stations with:

• Tethered cables with different connectors if you use it for your customers cover all possible EV charging ports
• 7-8-m long cables to make EV charging possible at some distance in case the place right near the station is already occupied
• Smart control features to monitor and manage current consumption.