Two quite different businesses get called “an EV charging business”, and almost everything about them differs: the money you need, the licences, who pays you and what you own at the end. Before anything else, work out which one you are starting. Installing chargers, or operating them? An EV charger installation business installs equipment other people own. You are paid per install, by a homeowner, a business, a leasing company or a manufacturer. Startup cost is a van, tools, training and insurance. You need electrical qualifications, and you can be trading in months. A charge point operation owns the chargers and sells the energy through them. You are paid per kWh, by drivers. Startup cost includes the hardware, the grid connection, the civils, the land agreement and a back office that can take payments and handle roaming. You do not need to be an electrician, because you will be paying installers. Payback is measured in years and it turns on utilisation, which is to say on site selection. People often search for one and mean the other. The rest of this guide covers the installation business, because that is the one you can start with a qualification and a van. If you are looking at operating a network, the questions are about site acquisition, utilisation and back office, and our guide for charge point operators is the better starting point. What you need before you can trade EV charger installation is electrical work, so the entry requirement is that you are an electrician first. There is no route that skips this. Electrical competence You need to be a qualified electrician with current experience of inspection and testing, working to BS 7671. Everything else builds on that. EV specific training The recognised qualification is City & Guilds 2919-01, the Level 3 […]
