Providing visitors with the facility to charge their electric vehicle (EV) will be more and more important as we move towards 2035 when the UK government ends the sale of all new petrol and diesel vehicles.
A vehicle running on electricity has no localised CO2 emissions. If the electricity used to charge the vehicle has been generated from renewable sources, then the impact is minimised even further. EVs also have lower impacts in terms of noise as well as air quality and so help to contribute to healthier communities.
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Installing an EV charging point
The sale of EVs is already increasing dramatically so if you don’t already have an EV charging facility, do consider installing one. See below for funding information to help you.
Charging points can be an added selling point for your business which you can promote via your marketing channels as they are currently sought after in a helpful location. You may choose to offer car charging as a free service to visitors or ask for additional payment which you can calculate via energy meter monitoring. If you run an attraction, an added benefit is that visitors may stay for longer and use your café or shop whilst their vehicle is charging.
There are four types of chargers available at various price ranges and at varying speeds: slow, fast, rapid and ultra-rapid. You can find out more about different chargers and the associated set of connectors here. A slow charger is suitable for accommodation providers as visitors can charge their vehicles overnight in the car park. Attractions and hospitality businesses may want to consider a fast charger.
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Inform visitors of nearest charging points
Be sure to offer information to your visitors about where the nearest charging points can be found, especially the faster charging points for those who are short of time. Zap-Map is a mobile app and website which is a great resource for this. If you do have a charger, you can also add your EV charge point to the map to make it easier for potential visitors to discover your business.
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Look at your own vehicles
If you operate a vehicle as part of your business, you should consider switching to an electric vehicle to lower your business emissions. Your business could also benefit from tax breaks.
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Funding and support
The government’s Workspace Charging Scheme provides grants for small accommodations (249 employees or less) to purchase EV charging points. Funding is up to £350 towards the up-front costs of the purchase and installation, delivered as a voucher-based scheme. It is capped at £350 per socket and up to 40 sockets across all sites per applicant.
If installing an EV charging point, your business may also benefit from tax breaks.
Low Carbon Across the South and East (LoCASE) is an EU-funded project which can help SMEs with carbon reduction through grants and training.
Further information
Read more tips and information on how to become a more sustainable business in our Impacts Resources Hub.
Read inspiring stories from our Impact Heroes where we detail exciting organisations that have taken action on sustainability.
If you have taken action to be more sustainable in your business, we’d love to hear more. Please get in touch with enquiries@visitkent.co.uk
