Half of car buyers would consider an EV if they had workplace charging

A survey from YouGov, commissioned by 3ti, shows that 50% of new car buyers are more likely to consider an electric vehicle (EV) as their next car if they are able to charge it at work.

The results demonstrate the opportunity for employers to help accelerate EV adoption in the UK. They also highlight the crucial role to be played by destination and workplace charging facilities, if the rate of EV uptake in the UK is going to be maintained.

Tim Evans, 3ti’s founder and CEO said: “It is no surprise to learn that these survey results support 3ti’s belief that the best place to charge an EV is at a  workplace or other destination, especially for those who cannot charge at home. Not everyone has access to a charge point at home, so destination charging could be a great leveller – democratising EV ownership and promoting mass uptake.

“Companies can reduce their employees’ reliance on expensive, carbon intensive service station forecourt charging infrastructure, by providing sufficient charge points in workplace car parks for employees to charge through the course of a working day,” he continues. “Adopting a ‘charge where you stop’ mentality in place of a fashionable, expensive rapid or ultra-rapid charging model is crucial if the UK is to truly decarbonise its transport sector.”

Integrating EV charge points, solar generation, battery storage and an existing grid connection is key to utilising the UK’s public and workplace car parks more effectively. By doing so, car park operators can offer a novel, energy efficient destination charging solution that  also benefits neighbouring companies through provision of cheaper, reliable, renewable energy. By adding a battery, it is also possible to feed excess energy back into the grid and make use of lower cost, lower carbon energy from the grid at night. According to data captured across 3ti’s 10MWp of solar canopies installed over 2,500 UK parking spaces, each SCP space can be expected to generate around 2.7MWh of solar energy a year.

“If the UK was to adopt France’s approach of installing solar panels on all car parks above 80 spaces, in conjunction with provision of EV charge points,” Evans continues, “then commuters could utilise an abundant source of renewable energy to take giant strides towards net zero. Car parks are an underutilised resource with huge potential.

“Of course, not every employer has the resources to install a large-scale solar car park, but 3ti has developed an award-winning solution to help combat this challenge: the world’s first mini pop-up SCP and EV charging hub, Papilio3,” concludes Evans.

Papilio3 is built around a recycled shipping container and is designed to combat traditional SCP barriers to entry, including investment cost and complex, expensive, time consuming planning and grid approvals. It can be deployed in under 8 hours and by boosting a basic three-phase grid connection with solar energy and a battery storage system of up to 250 kWh, can provide fast EV charge points capable of charging 12 vehicles simultaneously at 7, 11 or 22 kilowatts.