Energy Partners Insights — all articles

Destination Charging

• 'Fully funded' EV chargers cost you nothing to install. They aren't free. Read the site agreement first. 2026-10-15
  Believ x Marston's (1 Oct) and Roam's £500/£1,000-per-charger replacement offer (7 Oct) put 'fully funded' EV charging in front of every UK car park. What hosts actually trade (term, exclusivity, bays, grid capacity, tariff, exit), when owning like Lidl wins instead, and 10 terms to ask for before you sign.
• Pubs and restaurants: the EV charging vertical hospitality keeps ignoring 2026-10-12
  Pub & restaurant EV charging in 2026: why hotel maths doesn't translate, the 3 archetypes, and how a 40-cover country gastropub pays back in 11 months.
• Ultra-rapid chargers grew 39%. Destination chargers grew 4%. That's your opening. 2026-10-07
  Zapmap's end-of-September 2026 statistics show 124,738 UK public chargers, with ultra-rapid up 39.1% and en-route up 23.1% — but destination charging grew only 4.26%. Here's why operators are skipping venues, why that's an opening for hotels, gyms, golf clubs and leisure sites, and how to size chargers to your dwell time.
• A national operator just dropped 22 charging bays on a leisure park. The site grab has started. 2026-09-25
  RAW Charging's new 22-bay ultra-rapid hub at Bentley Bridge Leisure Park is one site in a £24.5m, 20-year Landsec deal covering 1,000 bays across 28 destinations. The operators have decided leisure venues are the next charging land grab — the question for every other venue is host or own.
• Gym EV chargers: the £400-a-month member-retention trick your competitor will copy next year 2026-09-21
  Why leisure venues are quietly the highest-converting destination charging sites in 2026, and the membership tier structure that turns chargers into recurring revenue.
• Holiday parks and EV charging: £100-a-day guests, seven-night stays, and a car park that earns nothing 2026-09-12
  UK holiday parks and campsites generate £12.2bn a year in visitor spending, guests stay days not hours, and the public charging network is thinnest exactly where parks sit. The numbers on right-sized 7kW charging, the £500-per-socket grant that names accommodation businesses — and why this closed season is the last one with the grant open.
• Golf clubs and EV charging: 750,000 members, four-hour rounds, and a car park earning nothing 2026-09-04
  Golf clubs have the best dwell-time profile in destination charging — four-hour rounds, record membership, and a £500-per-socket grant open until March 2027. The numbers on right-sized 7–22kW charging for clubhouses, and the four mistakes clubs make.
• Two chargers. £7,116 profit in year two. Why your retail park is leaving cash on the tarmac. 2026-07-13
  A real-world destination charging P&L for a retail park: dwell time, footfall lift, tariff structures, and the maintenance line nobody quotes accurately.
• Hotels without EV charging in 2026: congratulations, you're a museum 2026-07-06
  Why EV traveller booking criteria has flipped, what destination charging actually earns a 60-room hotel, and the brand partnerships worth taking (and the ones worth declining).
• Destination EV Charging for Hotels, Pubs & Retail: Turn Dwell Time Into Revenue
  For hotels, pubs and retail parks, EV charging attracts higher-value customers and turns dwell time into spend — and it's grant-funded. Here's the 2026 destination-charging case.
• EV Charging for Gyms & Leisure Centres in 2026: The Member-Retention Play
  Members spend 60–90 minutes on site — the perfect EV charging window. Here's how gyms and leisure centres use charging to drive retention and premium upsell, funded by the Workplace Charging Scheme.

Grants & Policy

• From 21 October, your car park can take a proper charging hub without planning permission. Read the small print first. 2026-10-10
  From 21 October 2026, SI 2026/1056 removes the one-cabinet limit on EV charging equipment housing in England's non-domestic car parks and raises the cap to a cumulative 45 cubic metres. What it means for rapid hubs, battery-buffered sites and depots — plus the prior-approval, 10-metre and conservation-area catches, and what it doesn't fix.
• Local authority EV charging procurement: the frameworks worth knowing in 2026 2026-08-26
  England's councils finally have LEVI money moving, seven tenders went live in one wave, and the PAC has already named the failure mode. Here are the EV charging procurement frameworks actually worth knowing in 2026 — CCS RM6213, ESPO VCI3, the regional routes and the free CCS/DfT template pack — and the three contract terms to demand on any of them.
• £1 billion just landed for UK fleet electrification. Window 2 opens in weeks — start your application now. 2026-08-20
  £170m Depot Charging Scheme, £81k truck grant, £5k van grant — window 2 opens 28 October 2026. Plain-English guide for UK fleet operators.
• The £1m depot grant nobody's claiming — because the form looks like tax returns 2026-06-15
  Depot Charging Scheme: 70% up to £1m, the eligibility traps, and the OZEV form 4b walkthrough that takes an evening, not a quarter.
• OZEV grants explained without making you want to lie down in a dark room 2026-06-01
  Workplace Charging Scheme, Depot Charging Scheme, EV Infrastructure Grant — what they actually pay, who qualifies, and how to stack them with capital allowances without HMRC writing you a letter.
• What a commercial EV charger actually costs in 2026 — every line item, no waffle 2026-05-25
  A real, line-item price list for UK commercial EV chargers in 2026 — 7kW workplace, 22kW twin, 50kW DC, 150kW ultra-rapid — with the hidden costs, the grants that change the maths, and a worked example for a 6-socket workplace install.
• The 2026 Workplace Charging Scheme: How UK Businesses Get £500 Per Socket Off EV Chargers
  The Workplace Charging Scheme now gives UK businesses up to £500 per socket — 75% of the cost, up to 40 sockets — on workplace EV chargers. But it closes for good in March 2027. Here's exactly what you get, who qualifies, and how to claim.
• EV Charger Grants for UK Business in 2026: Every Scheme Still Open
  The government streamlined its EV charging grants in 2026 — and put them all on a clock to 31 March 2027. Here's every grant a UK business can still claim (workplace, education, landlord and depot), plus the depot deadline just weeks away.
• Depot Charging Scheme 2026: How Fleets Get 70% Off Depot EV Charging
  The Depot Charging Scheme funds 70% of depot charging infrastructure — up to £1 million — for fleets running zero-emission vans, HGVs and coaches. But the first application window closes 30 June 2026. Here's what you get and how to claim.
• EV Chargepoint Grant for Landlords 2026: £500 Per Socket for Rental Properties
  Landlords can claim 75% of the cost of EV chargepoints at rental properties — up to £500 per socket, across multiple properties — but the scheme closes for good on 31 March 2027. Here's how it works.

Thought Leadership

• Greenwashing your CSR report with one rapid charger? Your customers can smell it. 2026-10-05
  How the SECR and CSRD-spillover crowd are sniffing out single-rapid-charger virtue signalling, and what an actually-credible corporate energy strategy looks like in 2026.
• Solar + battery + EV chargers: the unsexy holy trinity of energy bills 2026-08-31
  Why integrated systems beat point solutions on payback, the system sizing logic, and the smart-energy plan that ties self-consumption to overnight tariffs.
• 121,171 chargers, one lopsided map: what DfT's new EV charging statistics mean for your site 2026-08-29
  The DfT's first combined charging-infrastructure release puts 121,171 public chargers on the map at 1 July 2026 — and shows a network built for yesterday's demand. London has nearly double the national charger density but below-average rapid coverage and the slowest EV growth of any region. If you run a site outside London, these numbers are your business case.
• The UK just passed 2 million EVs. Your fleet still runs on diesel. Awkward. 2026-08-20
  UK passed 2 million EVs. 26% of new cars sold are electric. 120,388 public chargers. Your diesel fleet is now the awkward one — here's the catch-up plan.
• Going electric in 4 weeks: what actually happens (and what the salesman won't tell you) 2026-08-03
  Week-by-week walkthrough of a depot install, the bits that genuinely take time (it's not what you think), and the milestones to write into your contract.
• Smart Energy Plans in 2026: Why Piecemeal Beats Nothing, But Integration Wins
  Solar, battery storage, EV charging and energy procurement work best as one integrated plan, not separate projects. Here's why a smart energy strategy outperforms piecemeal buying in 2026.
• The Business Case for Going Electric in 2026
  Final-year EV grants, tax relief on solar and storage, volatile energy prices and rising customer and staff expectations — 2026 is a rare alignment of reasons to electrify. Here's the full business case.

Workplace

• Rapid charging now costs more per mile than petrol. Your car park is the fix. 2026-10-03
  The AA's Q3 2026 EV Readiness Index shows ultra-rapid public charging now costs 15% more per mile than petrol. Zapmap and BPA data put rapid-only drivers on 24p a mile versus 7p at home. Here's the workplace and venue charging maths, the £500-a-socket grant, and the tax-free perk most employers miss.
• Workplace chargers: the £500-a-socket grant, the recruitment perk, and the trick to charging staff fairly 2026-06-22
  How the WCS actually works in 2026, why HR teams are paying attention, and the three smart-charging policies that stop staff fighting over plugs.
• How Much Does Commercial EV Charging Cost in 2026? UK Price Guide
  Commercial EV charger costs range from ~£1,200 per socket for workplace units to £45,000 for a rapid charger — and the Workplace Charging Scheme covers up to £500 per socket. Here's the real 2026 price breakdown, including the costs people forget.
• Office EV Charging in 2026: The Recruitment and Retention Benefit
  For office employers, EV charging supports recruitment, retention and salary-sacrifice schemes. Here's the 2026 case — and how the Workplace Charging Scheme funds 75% up to £500 per socket.
• Public Sector EV Charging in 2026: Grants, Procurement and Fleet Electrification
  Councils, NHS trusts and public bodies are electrifying fleets and estates under net-zero mandates. Here's how the Workplace Charging Scheme and compliant procurement make it affordable in 2026.
• EV Charging for Schools & Colleges in 2026: The £2,000-Per-Socket Grant
  State-funded schools and colleges qualify for a higher rate of EV charging grant — up to £2,000 per socket under the Workplace Charging Scheme for education. Here's the 2026 detail.

Reliability & Trust

• Your grid connection quote says three years. Cobham just showed there's a faster door. 2026-09-29
  GRIDSERVE's 24-bay ultra-rapid hub at Cobham Services is the first major UK charging hub on a DERMS-managed flexible demand connection via an IDNO. Here's how non-firm connections work, who they suit, and the seven questions to ask before accepting any DNO offer.
• We installed 200 chargers last year. Here are the 5 things that always go wrong. 2026-09-14
  Field notes from 200+ commissions: the snag list, the contract clauses that save you from each one, and the one thing every project plan should reserve a week for.
• Will the grid cope? The question your installer hopes you don't ask. 2026-09-07
  DNO applications in 2026 — what gets approved fast, what triggers a six-figure reinforcement quote, and how Active Network Management saves projects that would otherwise stall.
• OCPP 1.6 vs 2.0.1: the open-protocol upgrade that prevents vendor lock-in 2026-08-23
  OCPP is the difference between owning your EV chargers and renting them from a vendor who might not exist in five years. What 1.6 vs 2.0.1 actually means, the 'compatible vs certified' trick, and the contract clause that protects you.
• How to Choose a Reliable EV Charging Partner in 2026 2026-06-21
  An offline EV charger earns nothing and damages your brand. Here's how to choose a charging partner on the metric that actually matters in 2026 — uptime — and what to check before you sign.
• Why nearly half of UK EV drivers have stood in the rain swearing at a broken charger 2026-06-08
  Charger reliability data nobody wants to publish, what the new public regulations actually require, and why uptime in your quote should be SLA-credited, not headline-only.

Fleet

• HGV charging in 2026: the Megawatt Charging System is coming, and your depot needs to be ready 2026-09-01
  The Megawatt Charging System stopped being a slide deck this year: the standard was published in February, the UK's first megawatt hub opened in January, Scotland's followed in May, and 25 more are funded. If you run trucks from a depot, the question is no longer whether MCS arrives — it's whether your site's grid connection will be ready when your trucks are.
• We costed a 50-van switch to electric. The finance director cried (in a good way). 2026-08-10
  Full case study of a 50-van fleet electrification: capex, opex, depot infrastructure, grants stacked with super deduction, and the year-by-year P&L impact.
• ZEV mandate 2026: the law your fleet director is quietly panicking about 2026-07-27
  Plain-English explainer of the 2026 ZEV mandate trajectory, the credit-trading mechanism, and what it means for residual values on your diesel fleet.
• Your diesel fleet is haemorrhaging £40k a year. Here's the receipt. 2026-07-20
  Diesel vs electric van TCO in 2026, with the fuel duty trajectory, BIK savings, residual value drops on late-life diesels, and the £40k-a-year leak nobody pricing on pence-per-litre will spot.
• Electrifying Your Fleet in 2026: The Total Cost of Ownership Case 2026-06-22
  Electric fleets look pricey on the sticker and cheap over their lifetime. Here's the 2026 total-cost-of-ownership case — fuel, maintenance, 4% company-car tax and grant-funded charging.

Solar & Carports

• Solar carports: why covering your car park is the most obvious thing you're not doing 2026-08-24
  Solar canopies over parking turn dead asphalt into 40–80kWp of generation per row, weather protection for staff, and the structural skeleton your future EV chargers want.
• Your warehouse roof is a £52k-a-year investment property. You're using it to store pigeons. 2026-06-29
  Commercial rooftop solar payback in 2026: the maths for a typical industrial unit, the export tariffs you can lock in, and the structural surveys that catch you out.
• Solar Carports for Business in 2026: Generate Power, Shade Cars, Charge EVs 2026-06-20
  A solar carport shelters your car park, generates clean power and hosts EV charging — all at once. Here's how the 2026 business case and funding stack up for car-park-rich sites.
• How to Fund Commercial Solar in 2026: Tax Relief, Export Income & £0 Upfront
  There's no single solar grant for most UK businesses — but tax relief (Annual Investment Allowance), Smart Export Guarantee income and £0-upfront financing can cover most of the cost. Here's how commercial solar funding works in 2026.

Battery Storage

• Your business electricity bill is now 60% fees, 40% electricity. The grid is the new villain. 2026-08-20
  60% of your UK business electricity bill is non-commodity fees. From 1 April 2026 they got worse. Solar + battery + smart energy is the only working lever.
• Triad is dead, long live the £30k-a-year battery cheat code 2026-08-17
  Post-Triad UK electricity markets created a new arbitrage: DUoS red-band shaving and capacity market plays. A 200kWh BESS now pays back in 3–4 years on the right site.
• Commercial Battery Storage in 2026: The Funding, Revenue and ROI Explained
  Commercial battery storage isn't funded by a grant — it pays for itself through avoided peak costs, stacked grid revenue and tax relief. Here's how the 2026 business case works, and when it's worth it.