Charging Stations for Staff Car Parks at Factories and Industrial Estates
Every factory, warehouse and industrial estate with a growing number of electric cars among its staff arrives at the same question: we want to put chargers in the car park, where do we start? This is not like fitting a wallbox at home. In a house the only issue is whether the supply is adequate; in a production facility there is already a transformer, a power factor correction panel and a load that changes hour by hour. Chargers are added on top of that picture. This article takes the factory and industrial estate decision in order.
A staff car park is not the same as a fleet
This distinction has to be made first, because every later decision depends on it. If a company car fleet is being charged, the vehicles are yours, they stay on site overnight and the planning is yours; we covered that scenario in a separate article. A staff car park is different: the cars belong to employees, they arrive at the start of the shift and leave at the end of it. So the charging window is not the whole night but the length of the shift, and who consumed how much has to be separated per person.
How many units are needed? The shift pattern answers that
In a staff car park one unit can serve more than one car during the day, because an employee's car sits parked for hours. In a single-shift facility where the car arrives in the morning and leaves in the evening, a 7.4 kW unit delivers far more than enough energy for daily use across an 8-hour window; what works here is duration, not speed. In a three-shift facility the same unit can serve three different drivers in turn. That is why the number of units should be planned against the number of electric cars parked at the same time, not the total headcount.
- Count the electric cars parked at the same time, not the total number of employees.
- Note the shift changeover times; that is when units get shared.
- Lay the infrastructure for 2-3 years ahead rather than today's number: cable and panel work is cheap during the first dig, not later.
- Plan a separate point for visitors and suppliers; you may want to keep staff points behind authorisation.
The electrical side on industrial estates
On organised industrial estates, electricity distribution often runs through the estate's own legal entity; in other words, when adding new load your counterpart may be the estate management rather than the regional distribution company. On smaller industrial sites, a shared transformer serves several businesses, so capacity sharing comes into play. In both cases the question to answer before installation is the same: is there room in your existing transformer and main board for the load you are about to add?
The second technical heading is power factor correction. Industrial customers are billed for reactive energy, and when new load is added to a facility the correction panel has to be reviewed against the new situation. How the chargers will affect that picture should be assessed, once the count and power are set, by whoever knows the site's electrical design. This is one of the most important items in the pre-installation survey.
Do not touch your production peak
A factory's electrical load is not flat through the day; it peaks when machines come online. The worst case for chargers is drawing full power together at exactly that peak. The answer is not fewer units but dynamic load management: the system sees the facility's live consumption and automatically reduces charging power, then raises it again once the facility eases. The Bemis Charger Plus 2 and Charger Pro 2 series carry this load balancing feature; because the units work in steps across a 6-32 A range, the reduction happens without interrupting the charge.
Who pays for the electricity? Decide up front
In a staff car park this is an administrative rather than a technical question, and it is answered in one of three ways: charging is offered free as a benefit, the cost is passed on to the employee, or a model is set up that is free up to a certain number of kWh and charged after that. Whichever you choose, you cannot manage what you cannot see. On the Charger Plus 2 and Charger Pro 2 series, user authorisation by RFID card and the shared-area management panel with per-person reporting are provided free of charge; no licence or subscription fee follows. If the measurement is to serve as a billing basis, models with a built-in MID meter are preferred.
Which unit: AC or DC?
In staff and visitor car parks the right answer is almost always AC. Because the car sits parked for hours, an AC wallbox between 7.4 kW and 22 kW covers the need comfortably and the infrastructure cost is far lower. DC fast charging is for scenarios where the vehicle stays on site only for minutes: logistics arrivals and departures, an administrative building with heavy visitor traffic, or a decision to position the site as a public charging point. Not confusing the two is the easiest saving in the whole investment.
Why is a pre-installation survey essential?
None of the items above can be answered by picking from a catalogue: the existing board, the transformer load, the distance to the car park, the cable route and the mounting surface all have to be seen on site. At Bemis this process runs through the authorised dealer; the choice of unit becomes clear after the survey, installation is carried out by a qualified electrician, and products are delivered with a 2-year manufacturer warranty.
Let us work out together which model and how many points your facility needs.
Your nearest authorised dealerFrequently Asked Questions
What is needed to install a charging station at a factory?
Three things have to be settled: how many electric cars will be parked at the same time, whether there is room in the existing transformer and main board for the added load, and who will pay for the electricity. Once those three are set, the number and power of the units are chosen. In practice the order runs like this: on-site survey, deciding the number of units and points, reviewing the board and power factor correction side if required, laying the cable route, then mounting and commissioning. Picking a unit from a catalogue without a survey produces costly surprises such as a later board replacement.
Who gives permission for a charging station on an industrial estate?
On organised industrial estates, electricity distribution is often run by the estate's own legal entity. In that case your counterpart for a new load notification and the capacity question is the estate management rather than the regional distribution company. On smaller industrial sites a shared transformer serves several businesses, so capacity has to be discussed with the site management. If the facility has its own transformer the situation is simpler, but the existing load and power factor correction still have to be assessed. Because the process differs from region to region, the first step is to ask your own management in writing.
How many chargers are needed for a staff car park?
The decisive number is not the total headcount but how many electric cars are parked at the same time. Because an employee's car stays parked through the shift, a single unit can serve more than one car during the day; across an 8-hour window 7.4 kW comfortably delivers the energy needed for daily use. In a three-shift facility the same point can serve three drivers in turn. The practical approach is to install units for today's number of electric cars but to lay the cable and panel infrastructure for a few years ahead; adding units later is easy, pulling cable is expensive.
Will the chargers strain the factory's electricity supply?
They can without load management, because in the worst case the units draw full power together at the hour when production load peaks. Dynamic load balancing solves this: the system monitors the facility's live consumption, automatically reduces charging power and raises it again once the facility eases. The Bemis Charger Plus 2 and Charger Pro 2 series carry this feature, and because the units work in steps across a 6-32 A range the reduction happens without interrupting the charge. A timer can also be used to move charging to hours outside production.
How do we track the electricity our employees use?
Per-person tracking needs two things: user authorisation and records. With an RFID card each employee starts the charge with their own card and the system records who consumed how many kWh. At Bemis the shared-area management panel is provided free of charge on the Charger Plus 2 and Charger Pro 2 series, with no separate subscription or licence fee. If the measurement is to serve as a billing basis, models with a built-in MID meter are chosen. This structure matters even where charging is offered free as a benefit, simply to see the cost.
Should I buy an AC wallbox or DC fast charging for my business?
What decides is how long the vehicle stays on site. In staff and visitor car parks the car is parked for hours, so an AC wallbox in the 7.4-22 kW range covers the need comfortably and the infrastructure cost is markedly lower. DC fast charging is for scenarios where the vehicle stays only minutes: heavy visitor traffic, logistics arrivals and departures, or a decision to position the site as a public charging point. For most production facilities the right answer is AC; where DC is needed it is usually at a separate point and few in number.
