Where to charge your EV on a business journey

Company Fleet  General Guides 

We profile the most popular chargers to look for on longer business journeys.

Planning. It's always about planning when setting out on a longer business journey in your electric vehicle (EV).

It's about working out where you should stop for a charge, and having a plan B if the chargers are either occupied or not working for some reason.

Do you have your favourite stopovers that you use each time? Or are you just taking hold of your new EV company car and need some guidance on where's best to stop?

Fortunately for us, Zap-Map, the charge point map locator has crowd sourced some of the most popular and reliable charging stations you can head for.

Published just this month, the public charging network satisfaction rankings are a good guide to where you should head to top up your car's range.

Of course, new chargers are being added all the time, and your real life experience may paint a different picture. But this list is a good place to start.

1=Fastned

Cost: 73p per kWh*
Number of chargers: 60*

With just 12 locations across the UK, you need to seek out a Fastned charger. But according to Zap-Mappers the speed of the chargers, the ease of use were all top class. We could just do with a few more of them…It scored top placing with MFG.

*Source: Fastned

2=MFG EV Power

Cost: 79p per kWh
Number of chargers: Situated at 108 of its fuel retail sites it currently has 100 50 kWh chargers but is rapidly expanding with ultra-rapid 150 kWh chargers.*

If you've not heard of MFG - or Motor Fuels Group - it's the largest independent forecourt operator in the UK with clearly an eye on the future as it expands its EV chargers rather than its traditional fuel infrastructure.

Facilities, and ease of charging were plus points. “As we roll-out our new network of 150kW chargers, we are aiming to have 4 to 8 charging bays per site,” says the company's website.

*Source: MFG

3=InstaVolt

Cost: 66p per kWh
Number of chargers: More than 800 rapid or ultra rapid chargers*

According to Zap-Map, InstaVolt is a reader favourite and last year was number one.

Reliability and ease of use are key factors with simple contactless charging and no requirement for a subscription. One reader said: “You can always trust that an InstaVolt site will have a working charger.” And as an EV driver that's all you want.

Typically you'll find InstaVolt chargers located at major brands like McDonald's, Costa Coffee, Bannatyne Health Clubs and Booths to ensure you can enjoy the on-site facilities while charging your car.

*Source: InstaVolt

4= Connected Kerb

Cost: 35p per kWh*
Number of chargers: Nearly 1200 on-street chargers

Sharing fourth equal place with Osprey was Connected Kerb.

The business has nearly 1,200 on-street charging devices across the country, and the network is growing quickly with significant investment. The chargers were all rated as good and reliable, but the only criticism was lack of contactless payment options. But if you are looking for a rapid or ultra rapid charge, then you'll need another network.

*Source: Connected Kerb

5= Osprey

Cost: 79p per kWh*
Number of chargers: 350+ rapid and ultra rapid chargers

Osprey is expanding its charger network which consists mainly of rapid and ultra-rapid chargers. A £75 million programme is seeing a rollout of 150 charging hubs that will see a total of 1,500 150-175KW rapid chargers installed across 150 sites nationwide over the next four years. And what's more, from the beginning of November it has reduced the cost of its charging from £1 to 79p.

You can find Osprey hubs on major transport routes, at retail parks, restaurants and on-street locations. As one respondent said: “good locations and they tend to work well.”

*Source: Osprey

Planning your route

So now you know what to look out for on your travels. To help you, there are a variety of planners that can assist in working out the best route you need to take, including Zap-Map, A Better Route Planner and Wattsup.

And if you have not yet decided to change to an EV, yet, then Gateway2Lease has an extensive list of leasing offers for EVs to help you make the move.

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