Electric vehicles are fast becoming the most popular type of vehicle on the market, with sales expected to increase over the next few years dramatically. Coupled with the sale of new petrol and diesel vehicles being banned in the UK from 2035, business owners can’t afford to ignore the rise in electric vehicles anymore! But between more employees driving electric cars to government incentives for reducing emissions, companies are scrambling to cope with all the changes EVs bring. To help you out, here are 3 ways your business can prepare for the electric vehicle revolution.

Review Your Fleet

The first thing you need to do is take stock of your current vehicle fleet. What cars, vans, lorries or other vehicles do you have on the road, and what’s the nature of their work? This will help you decide which vehicles you can exchange for an electric alternative, and which should be kept as fossil fuel vehicles for a little while longer. The most obvious candidates for an electronic upgrade will have the following qualities:

• Low daily mileage: Electric vehicle mileage is improving all the time, with the best mileage on a single charge being around 366 miles. But the sweet spot for most vehicles is around 120 miles or less, so any of your vehicles that fall into that range for their average journey would be a good candidate.

• Smaller payloads: Smaller or lighter payloads are more likely to have an electric vehicle alternative with a suitable load weight and driving range. Heavier payloads may still have an alternative, but they are going to achieve shorter distances on one charge. There are options for any vehicle in the 3.5-tonne category.

• Urban routes: While the UK charging infrastructure has improved in the last few years, it still leaves a lot to be desired. Urban, built-up areas are still far more likely to have easy access to charging options, so any vehicles that tend to travel these routes will be ideal candidates for upgrades.

• Charging time: Depending on how you use each vehicle, you may find they can be topped up with charge in between jobs, and then the single-charge range becomes a lot less limiting.

When it comes to the more specialist vehicles and HGVs, your options may be a little more limited. This is where you may need to wait until more commercially viable options come onto the scene before you make the switch.

Install The Correct Charging Infrastructure

As you probably know, electric vehicles require charging to keep them working and provide the ‘fuel’ for them to run. But you can’t just plug them into the mains! Instead, you need to install EV charge points for them to use.

You will need to be mindful not only of your own fleet vehicles, which will require their own charge points for use in a private area, but of your employees and visitors, who will need to charge their vehicles while they are on site.

As of last year, there is now a minimum number of EV charging points businesses are required to have for non-residential buildings, which is 1 per 10 car parking spaces, along with cabling for 20% (or 1 in 5). That doesn’t mean you should only install that number though. As we mentioned the rate of EVs on the road is only going to rise, so installing a larger number of dedicated charging spaces will be beneficial to you in the future. Speak with a certified EV ChargePoint installer to design

Create A Rollout Strategy

Most businesses will find that rolling out electric vehicles all at once will cause a lot of confusion. That’s why we recommend taking a phased approach. For example, you can introduce one or two electric vehicles into your fleet and provide your employees with a chance to drive them. Decide whether you are going to provide any form of benefit, incentive or support for your employees to move to electric vehicles, and offer training on driving and maintenance if needed. Above all, make sure you are communicating with your employees about the switch to electric vehicles, what that will mean for them, and the positive impact it can have on the environment and the business.

At Bonus Eventus we are passionate about the environment, which is why we created a sister brand, Bonus Eventus Charged. This allows us to provide guidance on EV car charge points, as well as full installation and maintenance. If you would like to know more about EV car charging points, or if you have questions about instating them in your commercial space, just get in touch with the team today.