Opinion: EV Charging
Driving down the cost of EV charging
Tom Bloor, managing director of charger supplier evec, explains how the EV sector can and must make domestic and commercial EV driving more aff ordable.
T
he average cost of buying and installing a domestic charger is over £1,000. For commercial chargers,
that fi gure is more than £2,000. That is far too much. Along with the high cost of buying EVs and the lack of national charging infrastructure, it’s a big factor in making EV motoring inaccessible to large swathes of the UK population. The EV charger sector needs to change that. If we focus on making installation and repair costs more reasonable, and being more pragmatic in the way we design and manufacture chargers, we can help make EVs a realistic option for hundreds of thousands more homes and businesses around the country. We’ll also be better at fulfi lling our important role in improving sustainability in the UK and across the world.
There is a place for complicated EV chargers with lots of features. Some consumers love gadgets. But the vast majority just want to have a straight-forward, aff ordable solution for being able to get to and from work or do the school run.
A big emphasis on looks and style can be important for businesses and homeowners. They may want some sleek black box attached to their garage wall. But it’s really not a major factor for most people. A well-made, quality charger will always look good. If we want to reach the average consumer, ramping up costs by making something look like an ornament or ultra- compact shouldn’t be a priority. Our chargers are fully smart-regulations compliant, operated through a user-friendly app and look very stylish. But we keep the cost of our 7.4Kw domestic chargers, for example down to as little as £769.99, including installation, by keeping products highly functional but simple. It’s important for EV charger suppliers to establish a trusted network of installers who have agreed to consistent, competitive fees. This is something we have done at evec and it’s made us more appealing to domestic and commercial customers.
Installing chargers and switching to an EV is a big jump for families and businesses, and they will have concerns about what happens if things
go wrong. To instil confi dence, including about possible fi nancial outlays, there’s much to be said for charger fi rms partnering with or setting up rapid engineer call-out services. This will avoid consumers having to pay large one-off bills to repair fi rms, many of whom take a week or longer to fi x problems. A 48-hour call-out service or similar is something that fi rms should aspire to. It’s also the job of the EV sector to be more proactive in letting the commercial and domestic sectors know the benefi ts of the UK government’s Workplace Charging Scheme and similar grants. They off er eligible businesses, landlords and people who live in fl ats up to £350 towards the cost of buying and installing a charger, for as many as 40 units. That could make EVs far more accessible to fi rms or families operating to tight margins or budgets.
Companies can bill employees for charging through special software if they can’t quite stretch to subsidising them, too. However, the deadline for the Workplace Charging Scheme and for fl at owners and renters and landlords is 31 March, next year, so fi rms need to put the message out to possible customers with some urgency. Many people know little about this fi nancial assistance and that is, at least in part, a failure of the communication and marketing of EV charger suppliers. It’s something we need to prioritise. Our VEC01 charger was the top-selling on Amazon, last December. I’m very proud of that. It shows that a more realistic, pragmatic approach to supplying chargers can have a tremendous eff ect and help this industry reach its undoubtedly huge potential.
16 | electrical wholesalerApril 2024
ewnews.co.uk
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