Should your restaurant install EV charging?

Your restaurant needs chargers that fit a meal and leave diners free to finish it. Test lunch and dinner demand separately, then compare fully funded host income with returns from investing. A charging bay should support the visit without disrupting table sittings. The UK had 121,171 public chargers on 1 July 2026 [S7]; that national total cannot predict demand at your site. Checked October 2026.

Last checked 17 October 2026

How much use could EV chargers at a restaurant get?

Build the demand estimate around reservations and actual car arrivals. Count how many parties arrive by car, how long they remain and whether they would pay to charge. DfT recognises hospitality charging as a destination use [S7], but that is not evidence of bookings or charger use at your restaurant.

Use an assumed ninety-minute meal for initial design, not a claim about every diner. Lunch, tasting-menu evenings and takeaway collections need separate treatment. If you close between lunch and dinner, a session arriving during the gap may find no toilet access or staff help. Decide what experience you intend to offer before listing public hours.

Should a restaurant choose fully funded, part funded or self funded?

Fully funded puts installation cost, ownership and operation with the provider; you supply the bays for a share of sales. Check whether it wants access between sittings or on days you close. Part funded combines your capital with the provider’s and should specify the larger share, title to the kit and exit price. Self funded gives you the net charging income and responsibility for costs, even if you outsource operation.

Do not exchange control of your entire car park for a modest charging area. Have the agreement identify the bays, walking route, dining opening hours and who deals with parking complaints.

Read the fully funded guide and compare part funded terms before deciding who should own the equipment.

What does restaurant charging cost and how long could payback take?

This is an illustration, not a quote. Every commercial input below is an assumption, not a market price, utilisation forecast or available funding offer. kW means kilowatts, a measure of power; kWh means kilowatt-hours, the energy delivered.

Assume VAT registration and full input VAT recovery. Driver prices include assumed 20% VAT [S11]; income and costs exclude recoverable VAT. HMRC treats public charging as standard-rated [S10]. Check with your accountant. The capital allowance excludes major off-site connection works; replace it with a surveyed, itemised budget.

Annual delivered energy = sessions × 18 kWh × 300 days. At mid use, 4 × 18 × 300 = 21,600 kWh. Sales = delivered energy × £0.55. Imported energy cost = delivered energy × 1.10 × £0.25. Operating surplus = sales − imported energy cost − £900. This gives £5,040 at mid use.

The fully funded host receives sales × 10%. The provider pays operating costs from its remaining sales. The part funded host receives surplus × 60%, after those costs; the provider receives the balance. For this illustration, a negative surplus is also shared in that proportion. The self funded host receives the whole surplus and bears any loss. ROI means return on investment: annual host net income ÷ host capital × 100. Simple payback = host capital ÷ annual host net income, only when income is positive. Ranges reflect the capital range, with results rounded.

The low case is a weak investment even before replacement costs. The high case assumes repeated turnover across trading periods; it cannot come solely from longer occupation by the same diners. These simple returns exclude borrowing, profit taxes, grants, replacement equipment, extra rent, business rates and lost parking income. Add any such site costs before relying on the result. Fully funded has no host capital payback in this model; the provider still needs its own viable return.

What supply and bay layout does your restaurant need?

The assumed pair could request 22 kW together. Compare that with ovens, extraction, dishwashing and heating during service. Ask for load management that protects the building supply, and see how much charge remains available during a busy kitchen period.

Place the bays outside the delivery turning area and keep a direct walking route to reception. Decide whether the booking team can reserve a charging bay separately from a table. Avoid asking diners to leave a course to move their car; a clear post-charge parking policy matters as much as the headline power.

Ask your distribution network operator (DNO), which manages the local electricity network, about capacity [S4]. Obtain a connection scope before agreeing an opening date. Ask your designer to demonstrate an accessible route, usable controls and cable handling using DfT inclusive mobility guidance [S8].

Planning permission depends on the development and applicable permitted development rights in England [S6]. Ask the planning authority about your proposal; check the separate regime elsewhere in the UK. Have your solicitor review land rights and landlord consent.

How do you charge diners for electricity?

The new-public-point contactless threshold is 8 kW for operators in scope [S9]. Include payment hardware and fees in a proposal for the illustrative sockets. Explain any restaurant discount before payment and avoid requiring a diner to settle a charger fault through the food bill.

Public charging prices must be clear in pence per kWh and cannot rise during a session [S5]. Allocate tariff control, driver support, fault response and liability in writing. Ask who pays for insurance, vandalism, removal and reinstatement, and who handles a business-rates assessment. Have your solicitor check exit, assignment and redevelopment terms.

Can your business get a charger grant or tax allowance?

WCS offers up to £500 per socket, covering up to 75% of eligible costs, and ends 31 March 2027 [S1]. Ordinary business customer parking is excluded [S2]. A customer-facing restaurant installation needs a business case without assuming workplace support. Ask separately about genuinely designated staff parking.

Qualifying unused charging equipment can receive 100% first-year allowances: expenditure deadlines are 31 March 2027 for Corporation Tax and 5 April 2027 for Income Tax [S3]. Check with your accountant. No relief is deducted in the illustration.

Next steps

Prepare lunch and dinner parking observations and compare charger speed with dwell time. Ask for a trial-sized layout before a wider car-park commitment.

Review the pubs, restaurants and cafés sector and pub charging page. Gather parking observations, opening hours, a land plan and electricity records, then get matched with an installer that covers your area.

Piggy Pineapple Ltd operates this referral service. We refer enquiries to installer partners and may be paid a fee. Our owner holds shares in at least one partner. Before passing on your details, we name the proposed partner and disclose any shareholding our owner holds in it.