- Survey by 3ti shows provision of workplace and destination charging infrastructure would significantly boost UK electric vehicle sales.
- Most early EVs adopters charge at home, but around 50% of prospective buyers do not live in homes where they will be able to.
- Workplace and destination charging is the most cost effective, low carbon alternative.
- France has recently legislated for all sites with more than 80 parking spaces to be converted into solar car parks – the UK and other countries are urged to follow suit.
- 3ti solar car parks and the award winning Papilio3 pop-up charging hubs are specifically designed to enable a destination, ‘charge where you stop’ mentality.
Latest YouGov survey results show that 50% of new car buyers are more likely to consider an electric vehicle (EV) as their next car if they are able to charge it at work. The results, gathered on behalf of 3ti, the UK’s leading designer, installer, funder and operator of Solar Car Parks (SCPs),demonstrate the opportunity for employers to help accelerate EV adoption in the UK. They also highlight the crucial role to be played by destination and workplace charging facilities, if the rate of EV uptake in the UK is going to be maintained.
“It is fantastic to read recently that businesses are signing up to salary sacrifice schemes that help make EVs more affordable for their employees, but we see that as offering only half a solution,” says Tim Evans, 3ti’s founder and CEO. “It is no surprise to learn that these survey results support 3ti’s belief that the best place to charge an EV is at a workplace or other destination, especially for those who cannot charge at home. Not everyone has access to a charge point at home, so destination charging could be a great leveller – democratising EV ownership and promoting mass uptake.
“Companies can reduce their employees’ reliance on expensive, carbon intensive service station forecourt charging infrastructure, by providing sufficient charge points in workplace car parks for employees to charge through the course of a working day,” he continues. “Adopting a ‘charge where you stop’ mentality in place of a fashionable, expensive rapid or ultra-rapid charging model is crucial if the UK is to truly decarbonise its transport sector.”
Integrating EV charge points, solar generation, battery storage and an existing grid connection is key to utilising the UK’s public and workplace car parks more effectively. By doing so, car park operators can offer a novel, energy efficient destination charging solution that also benefits neighbouring companies through provision of cheaper, reliable, renewable energy. By adding a battery, it is also possible to feed excess energy back into the grid and make use of lower cost, lower carbon energy from the grid at night. According to data captured across 3ti’s 10MWp of solar canopies installed over 2,500 UK parking spaces, each SCP space can be expected to generate around 2.7MWh of solar energy a year.
“If the UK was to adopt France’s approach of installing solar panels on all car parks above 80 spaces, in conjunction with provision of EV charge points,” Evans continues, “then commuters could utilise an abundant source of renewable energy to take giant strides towards net zero. Car parks are an underutilised resource with huge potential.
“Of course, not every employer has the resources to install a large-scale solar car park, but 3ti has developed an award-winning solution to help combat this challenge: the world’s first mini pop-up SCP and EV charging hub, Papilio3,” concludes Evans.
Papilio3 is built around a recycled shipping container and is designed to combat traditional SCP barriers to entry, including investment cost and complex, expensive, time consuming planning and grid approvals. It can be deployed in under 8 hours and by boosting a basic three-phase grid connection with solar energy and a battery storage system of up to 250 kWh, can provide fast EV charge points capable of charging 12 vehicles simultaneously at 7, 11 or 22 kilowatts.