FEATURE PARTNERING FOR SUSTAINABILITY
Dan Lessiter, Kevin Ledger and James Ford, Head of Business Partnerships and Senior Business Partnership Managers respectively at Believ, explain how businesses benefit from supporting the decarbonisation of our roads.
Electrifying business With the 2030 ban on new petrol and diesel vehicles being pushed back to 2035, the negative impacts of Covid-19 and rising interests continuing to impede business growth, the question on the minds of many businesses looking toward 2024 is simply, ‘Why prioritise electric vehicle charging now?’.
With more than one million plug-in vehicles already on UK roads and the number rapidly rising, businesses need to keep pace with demand. Finding the time and funds to invest in Electric Vehicle (EV) infrastructure, however, poses a significant challenge. But this doesn’t have to be the case. Responsible EV charge point operators (CPOs) recognise these issues and their support is necessary to facilitate the switch to electric vehicles.
CPOs must deliver a reliable, cost-effective and accessible charging network that helps with sustainability targets and ESG reporting requirements. It also unlocks new revenue possibilities for those businesses that host it. With many CPOs offering fully funded charging solutions, businesses can add EV charging infrastructure to their sites without any capital expenditure, and with reduced business risk.
Designing for success As is widely reported, installing EV infrastructure is an effective way to offset emissions and address sustainability, net zero and ESG policies, quotas and regulations. Businesses face considerable challenges in managing and monitoring emissions from within their own business, and within the wider supply chain.
This is a priority for the modern CPO. In fact, this is where they show their value. Simply put, CPOs exist to provide solutions by means of consultation, design and planning. They work closely with business owners and facilities managers to identify profitable, sustainable and secure locations as well as opportunities to increase business footfall and dwell time for customers while their services are in use. And in the case of some businesses, from golf clubs to out of town retail units, offering EV infrastructure can put a destination on the map. But installing sufficient hardware that meets destination demand is a challenge that many time-poor facilities managers and businesses struggle to resolve.
Whether this comes down to planning the number of dedicated EV parking spaces, identifying limitations of energy supply or the type of charging socket and speed, partnering with a CPO ensures that stakeholder requirements are placed at the forefront of infrastructure planning, strategy and design. This way, business owners
40 | TOMORROW’S FM
benefit from an end-to-end, bespoke charging solution without taking time away from their business. Independent and hardware agnostic, Believ can provide a blended approach to equipment and charging speeds, as well as all of the planning and design required.
Utilising a data-led approach towards charge point operation can help consolidate an EV strategy or newly placed charging destination and provide businesses with the confidence that their charge points are effective, efficient and in working order. Monthly breakdown reports are presented to charge point owners, with statistics showing the volume of kWh supplied, the amount of carbon offset and the amount of time in which the charge point was in use. These figures help provide businesses with confidence that hosting EV infrastructure is a worthwhile and cost-effective investment, and not just a convenient box ticking exercise.
The challenges to overcome Typically, term lengths for EV charge points range from 10 to 20 years, and businesses often worry that during this time technology may evolve and eventually become obsolete. Costs, uptime and charger availability cause additional concern, which can negatively impact a company’s reputation, particularly if the charger is faulty, mis-used or under-utilised.
Indeed, it is in the best interest of facilities managers, businesses and CPOs to provide and maintain responsible operation to deliver a charge point solution that lasts. If businesses and stakeholders are to be convinced of the benefits of sustainable transport, ensuring that their charge points are being used, are cost-effective and reliable is in their commercial and environmental interest. This concept of ‘shared interest’ is often overlooked or misunderstood. But addressing the requirement needs of facilities managers and business owners requires markedly different approaches. Much of this falls to whoever owns the decision-making process and to what extent EV infrastructure benefits them.
Business owners, for example, are typically more concerned with material commercial benefits, where facilities managers focus on ease-of-use and the reputational impact that charge points may have on its area of remit. Along a similar train of thought, facilities managers may enable a conversation surrounding EV installation on their premises, but may not have the final say on its implementation – CPOs must take note of this, and make life easy in order for facilities managers to raise enablement into action – and this requires a bespoke, tailored approach.
twitter.com/TomorrowsFM
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56
