Step 1: Plan your strategy

The first step is to plan your strategy - decide what you need to build and where.

What types of EV are there?

Types of EV charging

EV charging infrastructure is the equipment and systems that supply electricity to charge EVs. EV charging infrastructure comes in different forms, depending on how fast vehicles need to charge and where charging takes place.

Slower chargers are typically used for vehicles parked for long periods at home or at work. Faster chargers are installed for public use where drivers need to recharge quickly before continuing their journey, such as at roadside facilities. The types of charging used on the strategic road network are shown in the following table. 

Alternating current and direct current 

When thinking about charge points at your site, you’ll hear about direct current (DC) and alternating current (AC) as two forms of electrical current. The grid delivers AC, but batteries store DC. Because EVs use batteries, chargers convert AC to DC, either in the charge point (rapid or ultra-rapid chargers) or in the car (for slower chargers). 

The diagram below shows this conversion of AC from the grid to DC in the vehicle for both types of charge point.

Understanding demand

Electricity supply is critical to EV charging. The following steps set out how you can understand how much electrical capacity you have now and what you'll need at your site to cater for future demand. 

1) Check existing capacity

Find out who your distribution network operator (DNO) is - the Energy Networks Association has a tool (Transport Connections Guidance) that can guide you through the process just by inputting your postcode. 

Find out what your DNO currently supplies – this is called your agreed supply capacity (ASC). It’s measured in kilo-volt amperes (kVA).

2) Work out how much electricity you'll need

While there isn’t a simple calculator to work out how to forecast future electricity demand, there are a few indicators that can indicate how demand can be forecasted. These include:

• number of parking spaces
• how long people stay in the car park to charge their vehicle (dwell time)

Once you have an idea about what you'd like to offer, the DNO can help you to determine upgrade costs for new or upgraded grid connections to support EV chargers.

You can get further information from DNOs and independent distribution network operators, for example through heatmaps, connection surgeries, budget estimates or feasibility studies.

Understanding the cost and build out timetable for upgraded electrical connections, along with the consents and approvals you’ll need prior to making a new connection request (and order) will help you plan your investments.

3) Increase site power if forecast demand exceeds existing supply

Make the connection request to your DNO. Early engagement is critical for you through the application and connection process. 

The time to upgrade a grid connection to a site can vary and be a challenge for many site operators. However, we expect these to reduce over time because of Government reforms to the connections process.

More detail about this can be found on Step 3: Detailed design, grid connection and pre-construction.