Check out a behind-the-scenes glimpse at exactly what goes on when you're getting a new charging station installed at your business. If you're looking for a great way to make your business more eco-friendly, this is it!
We Start With A Site Visit
We always recommend having a site visit before deciding on what kind of chargings station to get, and indeed which company to get it from. This is because there are so many options and what you go for will depend greatly on what you need and the site where it’s being installed. A site visit will also give you a more accurate estimation of costs than simply basing it off a drawing or from images.
What Happens When We Install An EV Charging Station?
Installing a new EV charging station always starts with digging out the bases for each EV charger. We mark out where each will go using spray paint, and dig that out. We then spray from post to post and spray to map out the route back to the plant room or switch room where the power is coming from.
Once we’ve finished digging everything out, we set the chargers in place, measuring each one equally from the curb. We’re careful here to allow enough space to add crash barriers later to protect the charging point (and vehicles) from accidents.
After they’ve been placed and their positions checked the chargepoints are secured in place using something called post-Crete. This sets within a couple of minutes of adding water to it, which is perfect as it allows us to carry on with the install the same day, rather than waiting around for cement to dry. This is a huge time saver, keeps the mess created by the install down, and means there’s no need to mix cement.
Once the chargepoints are all in their settings, we work the route of each back to the plant room or switch room, and dig out the route to meet the new chargers.
Next up we add the steel around the cabling to each charger, mounting them on top of the bases. If there’s already a mains board for us to come off then obviously we can without disrupting anything. If there’s not a mains board available then we have to put a board in and sometimes have to switch off the panel board to connect to it. If we do need to shut down for an install we tend to do it when it will cause the least disruption. That might mean shutting down over the weekend, or it might mean doing it at 3 AM – whatever will minimise the impact on the company.
What’s The Best Place To Install A Charging Station?
It’s important to choose the perfect spot for your new Charging Station. The best place is near the front of your building, and always near to a plant room or switch room so you can get your energy supply as easily as possible.
The further away from the source, your charging station is, the more excavation work is needed to install all the cables and hook it up. We try to be smart about it and keep the excavation work in the soft dig of the flowerbeds, keeping everything within the boundaries and minimising the mess.
