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Guidance for businesses on installing and sharing EV charge points

How to share your workplace EV charger with people in your community

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One of the key concerns for many people who are considering switching to an EV is how they can charge it close to home if they don’t have their own charging point yet – especially if they can’t have one, because (like many people) they don’t have a driveway or other suitable space to install one.

However, there is a solution - many businesses have car parks which are open outside of office hours, are close to residential areas, and have plenty of parking spaces waiting to be used!

At Action Net Zero, we strongly support this community-based approach to sharing car chargers. 

To support businesses who are interested in sharing EV points with their local community, our legal partner TLT LLP has shared advice to help businesses navigate any potential legal barriers, such as landlord or mortgage restrictions.

If you'd like more advice on sharing your workplace's EV charging points, you can contact TLT LLP's dedicated helpline on anz.helpline@tltsolicitors.com.

TLT LLP will then arrange a free 30-minute call with one of their property lawyers, allowing you to identify and discuss any legal issues before you begin to share your chargers.

 

Share the charge

To support the increased uptake of electric vehicles, businesses who already have charge points, or would be willing to install them, can allow others in their local community to use them from time to time.

In particular, we can see a valuable role being played by businesses who have their own off-street parking, but don't need to use this parking overnight.

Overnight periods will often be the cheapest and greenest times to use electricity from the grid, so in many ways these are the best times for local EV drivers to make use of any spare parking spaces to charge their EVs. 

How to host

Businesses with car parking capacity can install EV chargers for their employees to use, helping to decarbonise their emissions and also support their local community.

These chargers can then also be used by local residents in the evenings - enabling the business to gain incremental revenue, too!

Other businesses who are likely to be increasingly reliant on electric vehicles (eg. taxis and delivery firms) are also able to benefit, as charging costs can be kept to a minimum by sharing with a neighbour, rather than using public points.

If you're ready to host, Co Charger is a platform which allows 'hosts' to share their home or workplace chargers with 'chargees' within their local area, and earn incremental money in the process.

For homeowners who are thinking about becoming a charging point ‘host’, you can read our guide to sharing your home charger here.

Avoid any risks

For homeowners who are thinking about becoming a charge point ‘host’, our homeowner's guide includes specific guidance designed to provide reassurance about any legal risk or concerns you may have.

Some of the risk considerations covered in our homeowner guide will be equally applicable to businesses, but an additional consideration for many businesses is that you may lease your premises, rather than own them outright.

As all leases are written in slightly different ways, it's difficult to provide any useful guidance about potential lease- related issues without looking at your specific lease in more detail. For this reason, our legal partners TLT LLP are happy to offer free guidance to businesses on a site-by-site basis, as part of their support for community charging. You can contact TLT LLP's free helpline on anz.helpline@tltsolicitors.com.

You can find out more about making money by sharing your EV charger locally here.

If you'd like more legal advice on sharing your workplace charging point, you can visit TLT LLP here, or contact their free helpline on anz.helpline@tltsolicitors.com