I work for a regional arts centre and have proposed the installation of an EV charger to the management. They’ve asked me to come back with a proposal and I’m just wondering if anyone can recommend a charger that will meet our needs.

Ideally, we want a destination charger with a contactless payment facility. It will be in our car park and available to staff and the general public. We would hope to make some level of income from it which is why the contactless payment element is important.

Additionally, are there any grants available to organisations to help cover some of the initial costs?

  • 0range-duche-B4G@alien.topBEnglish
    1·
    10 months ago

    We use Blink, no complaints., Private membership for the registered users, nice web interface to administer it. Smartphone App, etc. But you pay for the convenience.

  • iqisoverrated@alien.topBEnglish
    1·
    10 months ago

    We would hope to make some level of income from it

    That is extremely unlikely. Consider how much power could pass through this charger and then calculate what you could possibly earn…That’s a couple dollars per week. You’ll be lucky if that covers maintenance/wear&tear.

  • im_thatoneguy@alien.topBEnglish
    1·
    10 months ago

    The network fees will kill profitability. Tesla destination chargers are in my opinion the only path to break even… But you have to install 6 of them to be able to bill customers.

    However you can buy 6 Tesla destination chargers with J1772 and Tesla connectors for the price of a single Chargepoint plug

  • markhewitt1978@alien.topBEnglish
    1·
    10 months ago

    There’s some decent info here as well as some stuff about the Workplace Charging Scheme your company could tap into.

    I wouldn’t get too hung up on contactless, indeed having an app could also mean you could restrict users.

    https://www.eonenergy.com/business/commercial-ev-chargers.html

    You would be unlikely to make much if any profit especially consdering business energy costs and having to charge VAT etc. The business would have to think of it as an employee perk and aim to cover costs.

  • Pixelplanet5@alien.topBEnglish
    1·
    10 months ago

    be aware that in order to make money with such a charger you will need to set the price quite a bit higher than what you are paying.

    you will also be paying some 3rd party a share of everything because someone needs to handle the billing and payments.

    overall everyone should be aware that such a charger will most likely never recoup its cost, especially not if its a level 2 charger.