Business EV charging in Woking: staff parking or public income?

Woking had 289 public chargers in the July snapshot [S1]. Overall public charger density is above the regional and UK rates, while rapid density is below them. Decide whether your premises primarily serve staff, fleets or paying visitors before buying equipment. A workplace installation needs a credible charging schedule and a supply assessment as well as a budget. Checked October 2026.

Last checked 17 October 2026

Should your Woking workplace sell charging or provide a staff service?

Begin by asking staff when they arrive, when they leave and how much energy they need. For operational vehicles, use duty schedules rather than an average car journey. A charger that keeps a work vehicle available may have a different purpose from a charger intended to earn public income.

Obtain the council’s current charging and climate plans before finalising a public installation. Check proposed street locations near the premises and ask the planning team which requirements apply to your site.

What do the Woking council figures show?

The supplied Woking record lists 289 public chargers, including 24 rapid or above, at 1 July 2026 [S1]. The overall and rapid comparisons point in different directions.

Calculate comparison populations from each council’s public count ÷ public density × 100,000. Sum populations and public or rapid counts to obtain regional and UK rates. The underlying density rounding means these are approximate, not averages of council rates [S1].

Woking’s 2026 Q2 record has 4,002 licensed plug-in vehicles, including 2,421 battery electric vehicles and 3,513 privately kept plug-in vehicles [S2]. Keeper-address registrations do not measure visits or charging use. Compare the South East regional context with your own parking observations.

For staff charging, inspect the public network as a fallback and measure workplace demand separately.

Could a shared workplace installation pay for itself?

Compare fully funded, where a funding party buys, installs, owns and runs the equipment for a host revenue share; part funded, where you contribute capital for a larger share; and self funded, where you buy the installation and keep its operating net. Check who controls staff access and prices under each model.

This is an illustration, not a quote. kW means kilowatts of power; kWh means kilowatt-hours of energy. Five units at £1,200–£2,000 each plus £3,000–£8,000 shared infrastructure make £9,000–£18,000 [S5]. Groundworks, cable runs and connection are extra: an assumed £2,000 allowance makes £11,000–£20,000. Obtain an itemised scope before relying on that allowance [S6].

Calculate energy as sessions × 12 × 250 and sales as energy × £0.50. Deduct energy × £0.25 and £750 from sales for operating net. A fully funded host receives 10% of sales in this assumption; part funded means half the capital for half the net. Return on investment (ROI) = host net ÷ host capital × 100; payback = capital ÷ net.

Both investment models have the same illustrative ROI because capital and net income are split in equal proportions. These are assumed commercial terms. VAT, tax, finance, losses, replacements and property costs are excluded; include them when using your own payback calculation.

This assumes you charge users for energy. If staff receive charging without payment, replace charging sales with zero and assess the installation as a workplace benefit or fleet facility. Do not count avoided public spending and charging sales as the same income. Track any fleet comparison separately using actual energy bills.

For offices, agree booking rules. For depots, prioritise departure times.

How can you check Woking’s electricity network?

SSEN’s Centralised Network View provides network-area mapping [S9]. Use it to locate your premises, and confirm the distributor for the actual supply before applying. Your DNO, or distribution network operator, manages local cables. Network boundaries need not follow borough boundaries.

Provide measured building demand, the desired charger power and the hours when vehicles can stay connected. Request separate prices for electrical protection, shared infrastructure, groundworks and cable routes. Use the charger sizing tool to organise the vehicle requirement. If solar or battery storage is proposed, require a separate generation and consumption model before attributing value to it.

Which funding conditions need a written answer?

Eligible workplace sockets can receive up to £500; WCS ends on 31 March 2027 [S3]. A public tariff must state pence per kWh [S4]. HMRC lists qualifying new charging equipment bought before April 2027 for 100% first-year allowances [S7]; check with your accountant.

Grant eligibility depends on intended users: an ordinary business cannot treat a solely customer installation as staff parking [S10]. Keep staff access and public sales assumptions consistent. Ask your solicitor to review landlord consent, lease duration and removal obligations. Record who pays for damage, insurance, business rates and replacement equipment, and who holds the usage data if you change management arrangements.

Next step for a Woking workplace

See Winchester and commercial installation costs.

Prepare staff charging needs, parking permissions and your electricity details. Piggy Pineapple Ltd runs the site as a referral service. Installer partners may pay us a fee for an enquiry, and our owner holds shares in at least one partner. We will name your proposed partner and disclose any owner shareholding in it before sharing details. Review how enquiries work and get matched with an installer that covers your area.