Almost three in 10 (29%) fleets already running EVs or planning to adopt them in the next three years now offer workplace charging for free.

The research found 29% of EV fleets offer charging for free and 14% have chargers in place but make their employees pay

The research, carried out by Arval for the 2021 Mobility Observatory Barometer, also found a further 18% of those surveyed plan to install workplace chargers within the next 12 months.

But on the flip side, 44% of those who took part in the 2021 Arval Mobility Observatory Barometer said they don’t offer charging facilities at all.

The research also looked at payment for workplace charger use and found that while 29% offer charging for free, 14% have chargers in place but make their employees pay for charging. Finally, to support charging at home, 14% of employers subsidised the installation of domestic chargers while their drivers footed the bill in 13% of cases.

Shaun Sadlier, head of Arval Mobility Observatory in the UK, commented: “What we can see is that the level of corporates offering both charging at the workplace and support for home charging is some way behind the adoption of EVs themselves. However, the research shows that the picture is potentially changing quite rapidly, with almost one in five employers aiming to install charging in the next year.

“Different attitudes to making drivers pay for charging are also noteworthy. There is an almost equal split in terms of both the cost of accessing workplace charging and of subsidising having a charger installed at home. It will be interesting to see how this situation develops over the coming years as the number of EVs being used rapidly increases.”

Sadlier also pointed out that broadly speaking more larger companies now offer workplace charging, whether for free or charged to the driver. But those with fewer than 10 employees are not as advanced as their larger counterparts

“Our view is that, to some extent, it is inevitable that larger businesses tend to have better resources to enable infrastructure change, but it would be wrong to imply that smaller businesses are being left behind. They are also taking charging seriously but just not moving ahead at the same kind of speed.”

Arval itself has installed 50 charge points at its UK head office in Swindon to help drivers go electric. To find out more, click here.