More than half (52%) of UK EV drivers don’t have access to charging at work, a YouGov survey commissioned by Monta has revealed. 

82% of drivers said they’d want to charge their EV at their place of work if available

That’s despite huge appetite from employees; 82% of these drivers said they’d want to charge their EV at their place of work if available.

Such a disconnect between accessibility and availability of EV charge points continues to put off a large number of would-be drivers, according to the fleet EV charging business.

“There’s a huge gap between what EV drivers want and what is currently available in the UK. While workplaces are still being slow to install charge points, their employees are charging at expensive public chargers or waiting until they get home and plugging in at peak times. Both of which will become more untenable as energy prices and the demand on the grid increases.” said Alok Dubey, UK country manager.

“Workplaces are a crucial charging solution to help build a stable and accessible charging infrastructure in the UK, and there are huge benefits for employers who install a charge point,” Dubey added.

Monta says fleets have several options to raise revenue from a charge point in a work environment. As an example, business owners can share their charge points with the public during weekends or outside work hours, earning a small profit on per charge while contributing to the continued electrification of the UK’s infrastructure.

It’s a subject also covered in the AFP’s ‘Making the Switch to EVs’ online training for fleets. In a session attended by Fleet World, the industry association pointed out that community charging can be used to recoup the cost of charge point installations.

The AFP also highlighted that HMRC doesn’t currently recognise electricity as a fuel, even though they have an Advisory Electricity Rate for it, so there’s no Benefit-in-Kind attributable to the employee where the employer pays for the electricity directly.

Monta has also said that installing workplace charging could help encourage a return to the office.

Alok Dubey concluded: “One in five EV drivers primarily work from home, but how many would prefer to work in the office are put off by the lack of charging at work? If employers are serious about wanting staff to return, then the place of work needs to be seen as an extension of the home office where amenities are provided to make commutes more attractive.”