What should a business park know before installing EV chargers?

Your business park needs a shared charging plan that separates tenant staff from public visitors and allocates power fairly. Start with tenant demand and bay rights before choosing fully funded, part funded or self funded equipment. Eligible workplace installations can receive up to £500 per socket [S1]. The worked example compares host income and capital payback. Checked October 2026.

Last checked 16 October 2026

Why install EV charging at a business park?

Charging can be a shared estate service for tenant staff, visiting contractors and pool cars. Begin by asking each occupier who actually needs it. A partly occupied building should not be modelled as though every leased desk produces a charging customer.

For an initial planning scenario, assume staff stay for six to nine hours during weekday opening. Validate that assumption against tenant attendance, weekend access and gate hours. Short meeting visits need a separate allowance. Government connection guidance recommends choosing capacity around charging needs [S4].

Set the objectives with occupiers: a staff amenity, tenant retention or public charging income. None establishes a measurable increase in rent or occupancy. Compare the office example and the workplace sector overview.

Which funding model fits shared tenant parking?

A fully funded agreement needs sufficient demand and rights over shared land. A provider may decline staff-only access. With part funded charging, check whether tenant contributions buy equipment, service rights or neither.

For self funded equipment, decide who contracts for power and who invoices users. Avoid recovering the same energy cost through both charging fees and estate service charges. Ask your solicitor to review lease length, exclusivity, liability, insurance, assignment, exit and reinstatement. Allocate any business rates in writing.

What does business park charging cost and earn?

This is an illustration, not a quote. All commercial inputs below are assumptions, not market prices, measured demand or an available funding offer. Kilowatts (kW) measure power; kilowatt hours (kWh) measure energy.

Effective energy cost includes charging losses per kWh sold. All amounts exclude VAT consistently. Grants, tax relief, finance, insurance, business rates, payment fees, replacement and lost parking income are excluded. Deduct your applicable costs before treating an operating return as project profit. Funded operators are assumed to pay energy, software and maintenance; no electricity is supplied free by the host.

Redo the mid case: 250 × 8 × 18 = 36,000 kWh sold. Receipts = energy × £0.45. Operating net income = energy × (£0.45 − £0.25) − £1,600 = £5,600. fully funded host income = receipts × 10%. part funded host income = net income × 70%, against £12,000–£20,000 host capital.

Simple return on investment (ROI) = annual host net income ÷ host capital × 100. Payback years = host capital ÷ annual host net income. Ranges use capital endpoints, with outputs rounded. Losses have no operating payback; long paybacks may exceed equipment life or your lease. The revenue-share guide explains what to put in the contract.

The high case needs turnover, rather than the same cars occupying every socket all day. Check that lunchtime moves are feasible without using another tenant’s spaces. Model vacant buildings and a major tenant’s departure before signing a long agreement. The low-use result is the more useful starting point where attendance is unmeasured.

What power supply and parking layout does your park need?

Start with the estate’s meter arrangement, building loads and cable routes. The distribution network operator (DNO) runs the local electricity network. Discuss multiple chargers early and compare a shared import limit with additional capacity [S4]. An alternating current (AC) socket’s rating does not establish the power every car accepts.

Identify whether each building has its own supply or shares an estate connection. Ask who authorises capacity allocation when another tenant adds heat pumps or machinery. The load-management comparison explains the design questions to take to a surveyor.

Put bays where drivers can connect without standing in delivery routes. HSE recommends separating people and vehicles where possible [S7]. Protect walking routes between buildings and leave room for drivers with mobility needs; use DfT inclusive mobility guidance when reviewing approaches [S8]. Have an adviser check planning, building requirements and land rights for the actual proposal and UK nation. Shared ownership does not settle permission.

How do public access and a workplace charging policy interact?

Decide separately which bays serve staff and which admit customers or passing drivers. Limited opening hours do not themselves remove public chargepoints from the Public Charge Point Regulations 2023 [S5]. Ask your solicitor to confirm classification.

Write a tenant policy covering booking, charging completion, fault reporting and out-of-hours gates. State who can move a vehicle and how someone without a smartphone starts charging. Do not depend on reception staff being present after the last tenant leaves.

Public operation adds responsibilities beyond supplying electricity. Require the contract to identify the operator, payment method and customer support. Check the public-versus-private guide before advertising the site on public maps.

If tenants propose solar, request generation and charging profiles for each relevant meter. Identify who owns the electricity and receives the benefit before adding self-use to an estate-wide calculation. Shared roof space and shared parking do not establish shared billing rights.

Which grants and capital allowances should your park check?

The Workplace Charging Scheme supports eligible staff/fleet provision, with up to 75% of installation and purchase cost, capped at £500 per socket and 40 sockets per applicant; the announced end date is 31 March 2027 [S1]. Shared car parks need designated applicant bays [S2]. Do not treat an estate-wide public scheme as staff charging.

The commercial landlord chargepoint grant closed to new customer applications on 31 March 2026 [S10]. Do not include it in a new project’s funding package.

Qualifying new and unused chargepoint equipment bought before April 2027 can attract a 100% first-year allowance [S3]. It is a deduction from taxable profits, not repayment of the invoice. Check with your accountant about your entity, grants and ownership; the example assumes no relief.

Next steps

Gather tenant attendance, bay allocations, gate hours, electricity records and lease documents. Compare workplace grant eligibility, then get matched with an installer that covers your area.

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