Is EV charging viable at your industrial unit?

Your industrial unit needs a charging plan that fits its lease, yard and actual electrical supply. Staff cars parked during opening hours and vans returning overnight need separate schedules. Eligible workplace installations can receive up to £500 per socket [S1]. Compare fully funded host income with part funded and self funded payback against your remaining occupation period. Checked October 2026.

Last checked 16 October 2026

Why install EV charging at an industrial unit?

Begin with how your unit is actually occupied. A workshop team may park throughout opening hours; a trades van may return only after its final job; a collection customer may stop briefly in front of a roller shutter. Use these as scenarios to investigate, not sector averages.

Survey who needs energy, when vehicles return and whether they remain overnight. Confirm whether the estate gate is open when the vehicle must leave. DfT recommends matching charging requirements with the available window before choosing speed or increasing connection capacity [S4].

A charger can serve staff or support van operations without attracting passing trade. Keep those objectives separate. Compare a factory with the manufacturing and industrial overview for different site patterns.

Which funding model fits a leased industrial unit?

Fully funded depends on whether the provider accepts your demand, access and occupation rights. A small private car park may not meet its commercial requirements. See fully funded charging. Do not assume a provider’s proposed equipment term fits the years left on your lease.

With part funded charging, establish who receives the host share if you sell the business or leave the unit. Self funded puts your capital at risk, even if the operating margin is positive.

Ask your solicitor to check consent for the charger, cable route, common yard and any subletting of bays. Review lease length, break dates, assignment, removal, reinstatement and operator failure. Allocate liability, insurance and any assessed business rates. An agreement about installation alone may leave exit costs unresolved.

What does a small industrial charging scheme cost and earn?

This is an illustration, not a quote. Every commercial input is an assumption, not a market price or an offer. Kilowatts (kW) measure power; kilowatt hours (kWh) measure energy. AC means alternating current.

The effective energy cost allows for losses per kWh sold. Figures consistently exclude VAT. Grants, tax relief, finance, rates, insurance, payment fees, replacement and lost parking income are excluded. Subtract applicable costs before deciding; these operating returns are not whole-project profits.

Redo the mid case: 250 × 2 × 18 = 9,000 kWh; receipts = energy × £0.42; net income = energy × (£0.42 − £0.24) − £500 = £1,120. fully funded pays receipts × 10%. part funded pays net income × 60%, or £672, against £2,400–£4,000 host capital.

Simple return on investment (ROI) = annual host net income ÷ host capital × 100. Payback years = host capital ÷ annual host net income. Outputs are rounded; ranges use the capital endpoints. A loss has no operating payback. Long paybacks may exceed equipment life or your right to occupy the site. They do not include replacement.

The high case needs successive sessions across the working day. Confirm that staff can move cars and spare parking exists before using that case. If the only vehicles are your own vans, replace sales income with a fleet cost comparison. Internal accounting entries are not new income from outside your business.

Compare the payback with your occupation period and include removal or relocation in a separate exit scenario. A useful operating margin does not recover capital before a lease break if usage stays too low.

What power and distribution-board checks are needed?

Give the surveyor electricity bills, meter details and measured peak demand. Record welding, compressors, machinery or other large loads that apply to your unit rather than copying a neighbour’s design. Check whether the supply and car park belong solely to your unit or are shared.

The distribution network operator (DNO) runs the local electricity network. DfT recommends discussing requirements and connection options with it [S4]. Ask the electrical designer to inspect the board, cable route and protection, and compare controlled charging with a supply upgrade.

Do not treat a three-phase label as evidence of spare capacity. Ask how much charging energy is available while your equipment operates and how import is limited. See how much power your site has for the information to gather.

How can chargers fit around shutters, deliveries and pedestrians?

Draw the swept path for delivery vehicles and keep charging cars clear of shutter access. Show where a driver stands while connecting a cable and how they reach the office door. HSE recommends separating pedestrians and vehicles where possible and considering loading activity [S6].

Mark the unit’s demised bays separately from shared estate parking. Avoid a design that relies on borrowing a neighbour’s space whenever a charging car needs to move. Check accessible pedestrian approaches against DfT inclusive mobility guidance [S9].

Have a planning adviser assess the actual equipment and site. Ask your solicitor to confirm land rights and permissions before work. If opening bays to public drivers, assess the Public Charge Point Regulations 2023 [S10]. DfT treats staff-only workplace charging differently from public access [S5]; a locked estate gate is not a substitute for deciding whom you admit.

Which grants and allowances should the unit occupier check?

Workplace Charging Scheme funding is announced until 31 March 2027 [S1]. Obtain the voucher before installation and confirm the applicant’s entitlement, including where the landlord controls the parking.

The commercial landlord chargepoint grant closed to new applications on 31 March 2026 [S2]. Do not deduct it because an estate agent’s older brochure lists it. HMRC describes a 100% first-year allowance for qualifying chargepoint expenditure [S3]. Check with your accountant about eligibility, grants and the business’s tax position; the worked example includes no relief.

Next steps

Gather your lease dates, bay plan, fleet parking timetable and electricity records. Read landlord consent for chargers, then get matched with an installer that covers your area.

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