Depot charging, in one line
The three things that decide a fleet install are your electrical supply, how you spread that power across multiple chargers, and the funding available for your project. Compare the whole cost, including equipment, connection work and electricity, against how your vehicles actually operate.
Load management
Shares your available supply dynamically across every charger, so a row of vans can charge overnight without overloading the connection. It usually lets you fit more sockets than the raw supply figure suggests, because vehicles rarely all need full power at once.
Single vs three-phase
Many commercial sites have a three-phase supply, which opens up faster 22kW charging and more total capacity. A registered installer confirms what you have and whether an NIE Networks connection upgrade is worth it. See our 7kW vs 22kW guide.
Design around the duty cycle
Overnight depot charging and daytime top-ups need different layouts. Good design sizes the sockets and power around how your vehicles actually work, not just the number of parking bays, so you don't over- or under-build.
Where your vehicles actually charge
Most NI fleets settle on a mix, not a single answer. It comes down to where each vehicle sits overnight and how far it runs in a day. Three patterns cover almost everyone.
Depot charging
Vehicles return to one yard overnight. You own the sockets, the load management and the tariff, so you can plan charging around vehicle return times and your electricity contract. Best for vans and HGVs that sleep on site. It needs supply headroom and, usually, load management.
Workplace charging
Chargers for staff, visitor and pool cars through the working day, sitting alongside the fleet on the same site. This is the part the Workplace Charging Scheme is built for. See our workplace charging page.
Driver-home charging
The practical NI pattern for take-home vans: fit a 7kW charger at the driver's home and the van charges overnight on their domestic supply, with no depot to build. You then reimburse the driver for the electricity used.
Reimbursing home charging for take-home vans
Agree how drivers will record business charging and which electricity costs the employer will reimburse. Keep the charging records and tariff evidence. Ask your accountant to confirm the treatment for your vehicles and ownership arrangements before choosing a reimbursement policy. A company-car rule does not automatically apply to a take-home van.
Our NI EV tariffs guide covers domestic tariff options. For company cars, HMRC's 2026/27 table lists a 4% appropriate percentage for zero-emission cars and a maximum of 37% in its petrol/hybrid table. These are benefit-calculation percentages, not the employee's tax rate or a van electricity allowance.
How load management lets you fit more sockets
Ten 7kW chargers have a combined nameplate demand of 70kW. A load-management system can share a lower available supply between them, subject to the installation's design and settings. It cannot guarantee that every vehicle receives enough energy before its next shift.
For a simple planning example, ten vehicles each needing 30kWh require 300kWh in total. A constant 30kW available for eight hours supplies at most 240kWh before charging losses. That schedule falls short even with perfect load sharing. Give your installer realistic arrival times, departure times and energy requirements, including busy days, before deciding whether a supply upgrade is needed.
The grant that pays for a chunk of it
The Workplace Charging Scheme takes a real bite out of a fleet install.
75%
Up to this share of eligible purchase and installation costs, subject to the per-socket cap.
£500
Maximum per socket for eligible installations completed from 1 April 2026.
40
Sockets you can claim for across all of your sites in total.
Apply for your WCS voucher before installation. An authorised installer claims the approved grant after the work. Check the current OZEV guidance and our Workplace Charging Scheme page.
Checked 27 October 2026
Depot grant: prepare for the expected October window
The official Depot Charging Scheme listing says applications are currently closed. A further window is expected from 28 October 2026 to 29 January 2027, for projects starting from April 2027 and delivered by 31 March 2028. Its terms and grant rates are still unconfirmed.
The earlier window closed on 30 June 2026. Its 70% contribution towards chargepoint and civil costs, capped at £1 million across sites, is historical information. Do not put those figures into a new project's funding plan as an agreed award.
DfI lists the scheme for Northern Ireland. It concerns depot infrastructure for electric vans, HGVs and coaches. Check the new window's published conditions before treating any vehicle, site or cost as eligible. Keep WCS and depot funding separate when discussing the budget; do not assume the same costs can be claimed twice.
What to have ready for an installer
You can prepare a useful survey brief while waiting for confirmed terms:
- List the vehicles, their daily energy needs and when each must be ready to leave. Include planned fleet additions separately.
- Mark parking bays, proposed charger locations and cable routes on a site plan. Record whether you own or lease the premises.
- Gather your electricity bills and available supply information. Ask the installer what site measurements and network checks they need.
- Request an itemised quote that separates chargers from groundworks and any connection upgrade. Ask what ongoing software and maintenance will cost.
This is a preparation checklist, not the scheme's final application requirements. Recheck the official listing when the window opens and get the funding and eligible-spend dates confirmed before committing to grant-dependent work.
Plan your fleet install
Three pages that cover the rest of the picture for NI businesses.
Commercial charging
Workplaces, fleets and customer car parks: what a business install involves and how we match you.
Workplace charging
Chargers for staff and visitor parking, and how they sit alongside fleet vehicles on the same site.
Workplace Charging Scheme
Who qualifies, what it pays, and how an authorised installer claims it for you.
Fleet and depot charging: common questions
What grants are available for fleet and depot charging in NI?
The main one is the Workplace Charging Scheme (WCS), an OZEV grant for organisations. It covers up to 75% of eligible purchase and installation costs, capped at £500 per socket for installations completed from 1 April 2026, with up to 40 sockets across your sites. Apply for a voucher before installation; an authorised installer then claims the approved grant. State-funded education institutions have a separate scheme. Larger depot operators may also qualify for the separate Depot Charging Scheme.
What is the Depot Charging Scheme, and who is it for?
It supports charging infrastructure for battery-electric van, HGV and coach fleets. Checked on 27 October 2026: applications are closed, with a further window expected from 28 October 2026 to 29 January 2027. The next phase's terms and grant rates remain unconfirmed. The 70% contribution and £1 million cap applied to the earlier window, which closed on 30 June. Do not assume they apply to your next application.
What is load management and why does a fleet need it?
Load management (sometimes called load balancing) shares your available electrical supply intelligently across multiple chargers, so charging several vehicles at once doesn't overload the connection or trip the main supply. It can spread charging across the available time, but it cannot create extra supply capacity. The design must still deliver the energy each vehicle needs before departure.
Do we need a three-phase supply for a depot?
Often, but not always. Many commercial premises already have a three-phase supply, which opens up faster 22kW charging and higher total capacity for multiple vehicles. A registered installer confirms what you have, whether your existing supply can carry the fleet, and whether an NIE Networks connection upgrade is worth considering. Smaller sites may run fine on single-phase 7kW sockets with load management.
How many chargers can a depot install?
That depends on your electrical supply and how many vehicles need charging in what window, not just the number of parking bays. Load management often lets you fit more sockets than the raw supply figure suggests, because vehicles rarely all need full power at the same instant. A commercial installer will size it around your duty cycle: overnight depot charging behaves very differently from quick top-ups during the working day.
How do we get started?
Tell us about your site, roughly how many vehicles you run, and how they're used. We'll match you with vetted NI commercial installers who survey the supply, design the layout with load management, help check grant eligibility and handle the relevant NIE Networks application or notification. You get comparable quotes rather than a single sales pitch.