How should your fleet combine home, depot and public charging?

Allocate charging by vehicle and shift: use confirmed parking windows at home or depot, then plan public stops for exceptions and drivers without reliable access. HMRC's home advisory electric rate is 7p per mile for eligible company-car use [S1]; it is not a universal fleet electricity price. Build separate operating and reimbursement budgets. Checked October 2026.

Last checked 16 October 2026

Where should each fleet vehicle charge?

Use a vehicle register with its normal overnight location, route, departure deadline and fallback. Separate a pool car returning to your office from a van kept at an employee’s home and a vehicle working consecutive shifts. Assign charging arrangements to those duties rather than applying a single rule to your whole fleet.

Energy Saving Trust’s charging profiles distinguish depot scheduling, home charging and public access. [S2] Use those categories to ask what is confirmed and what remains an assumption. A driver willing to charge at home is not the same as a driver with suitable parking, permission and an installed charger.

Government van research records concerns around public charging cost and access, alongside home-equipment ownership. Its findings describe participants’ experiences rather than all fleets. [S3] Ask your drivers which problems apply to their routes and record the answers.

Use van charging at trade premises for the yard routine and home charging for employees for household arrangements.

How much does a home, depot and public charging mix cost?

Build an energy budget before comparing tariffs. Kilowatt-hours (kWh) measure electricity and kilowatts (kW) measure power. Use electricity purchased at each location on a consistent basis, including losses in the energy quantity if your calculation begins with battery energy.

An illustration, not a quote: assume your fleet buys 100,000 kWh annually. Assume home electricity at 20p/kWh, depot electricity at 25p/kWh and public charging at 70p/kWh, all on the same tax basis. These are calculation assumptions, not current market prices. The table changes the assumed location mix while holding energy constant.

For the mid case: (30,000 × £0.20) + (40,000 × £0.25) + (30,000 × £0.70) = £37,000. Moving an assumed 10,000 kWh from public to depot charging changes energy cost by 10,000 × (£0.70 − £0.25) = £4,500. It only works if parking, supply and staff availability allow that move.

Add subscriptions, standing charges, capacity costs, maintenance, installation and paid driver time separately. Do not describe the energy difference as the net project saving. Energy charged to your own fleet is an operating cost; it is not host revenue from an external customer.

How do you reimburse home and public charging fairly?

Write a policy that distinguishes employer-paid sessions, reimbursed electricity and mileage payments. Decide which records finance staff need and prevent duplicate claims for a journey whose charging the business has already paid.

For company cars, HMRC’s advisory electric rates from 1 September 2026 are 7p per mile for home charging and 15p for public charging. A higher rate needs supporting evidence of higher cost per mile under the guidance. These rates apply to specified company-car circumstances; do not copy them across to every van or private vehicle. [S1] Check the arrangement with your accountant.

If a service combines home and public invoices, require the underlying split. Confirm how it treats household tariff changes and personal charging. Ask who owns the equipment, who pays to remove it and what happens when employment ends. Use fleet charge cards compared to test billing and account controls.

How do you size depot charging without counting every vehicle twice?

Start with vehicles that actually return and the energy they need before departure. Reserve an allowance for home-charging exceptions only where your operating plan expects the depot to cover them. Then test whether multiple exceptions could occur on the same shift.

Give your installer the charging timetable alongside building electricity demand. A distribution network operator (DNO) runs the local electricity network. Energy Saving Trust identifies site capacity, agreements and cable routing as separate checks before depot works. [S4] Request an installer design showing the available power and the conditions requiring DNO input.

Do not sign a large supply commitment just because your total fleet count is large. Equally, do not assume that a small average daily energy requirement can cover a short charging window. Compare the normal day with late returns and early departures, using depot sizing.

What public charging fallback should drivers have?

Give drivers a usable destination and an alternative, payment instructions, access hours and an escalation contact. Check that a charging stop fits the vehicle and the duty, including trailers, roof equipment and passenger needs. Budget for the time it takes to divert and return to work.

DfT’s infrastructure tables separate geography, power bands and charging needs. They can support a regional review but do not prove that a specific stop is usable when your driver arrives. [S5] Validate the actual route before relying on the map.

For each exception, name who authorises a public stop and who revises the next shift if charging fails. Review real session records after the trial so that persistent exceptions become part of the operating plan.

What should you do next?

Build a charging-location register and a location-based energy budget. Agree reimbursement with finance and fallbacks with drivers. Confirm site permissions and supply work before ordering vehicles around an untested depot programme.

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