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Going electric in 4 weeks: what actually happens (and what the salesman won't tell you)

30% of UK depot EV installs complete in 4 weeks. 50% take 6–10 weeks. 20% take 12+ weeks. The salesman quoting you 4 weeks for everything is selling the 30% as a guarantee.

Energy Partners · 3 August 2026 · 9 min read

A real 4-week UK depot EV install is possible. It requires: DNO application submitted on day 1, no grid reinforcement needed, civils under 40 metres, switchgear and hardware in stock. About 30% of UK commercial installs hit this, in our experience across 200+ commercial sites delivered. 50% complete in 6–10 weeks with light DNO work or moderate civils. 20% take 12 weeks or longer when grid reinforcement is required and G99 applications go into the 65-day window. Genuine 8-socket installs at a real Midlands logistics depot have completed in 27 days start to energisation. Others have stretched to 84 days because the DNO came back asking for a £180,000 transformer upgrade nobody pre-quoted.

The villain of this post is the salesman who quotes "4 weeks" on the call, signs you, then disappears at the DNO application stage and reappears at week 9 to explain that the grid won't take what you ordered. He's not lying, exactly. He's just selling the median outcome from the lucky bucket as the headline number from his pitch deck. We'll explain what the timeline actually looks like, what the three milestones nobody distinguishes are, and what to put in your contract so "4 weeks" means something.

The realistic timeline distribution

Across the 200+ commercial sites we've delivered, the timeline outcomes break down roughly:

The 30% is real. We hit it routinely. But the only way to know which bucket your site is in is to do the survey, submit the DNO application, and look at the answer. Anyone promising you 4 weeks before they've done that is making a guess in your favour to close the sale.

The DNO application — the bit that owns the critical path

The Distribution Network Operator is your regional grid operator (UKPN, NGED, SP Energy Networks, SSEN, Northern Powergrid, Electricity North West). Their job is to decide whether your local network can accept what you want to install without destabilising it. The application is either:

The DNO application is owned by the installer. The clock starts when the application is complete and accepted — not when you signed the contract, not when the survey was done. Every week of paperwork delay is a week off your 4-week timeline. Reputable installers submit on the day of the site survey if the design is clear.

If the DNO comes back asking for reinforcement (transformer upsize, new feeder cable, switchgear replacement), that's an additional 6–20 weeks of grid work, costed separately, often with shared-cost contributions from the DNO depending on capacity headroom rules. This is where 4-week timelines die.

The three milestones the salesman won't define

The biggest source of week-9 customer rage is that the salesman, the installer and the customer are all using the word "done" to mean three different things. Pin these down in writing before you sign.

Commissioning. The chargers are physically installed, wired, mechanically and electrically tested, configured against the back-office software, and able to deliver a charge under controlled conditions. Commissioning does not mean the unit is on the public grid yet — sometimes it's running off a temporary supply or a build supply.

Energisation. The DNO has approved the connection, the meter has been fitted by the MOP (Meter Operator), and the chargers are receiving permanent supply at full design capacity. This is the moment the asset can actually do its job.

Sign-off. All certificates issued (NICEIC/NAPIT installation certificate, manufacturer's commissioning certificate, IET wiring regs compliance, EVCP certification under BS 7671). Handover pack delivered. SLA clock starts. Warranty engaged.

If the contract says "4-week install" without distinguishing these three, you're going to argue about it. We've seen sites "delivered" against contract on day 28 in the sense of commissioned, but not energised until day 51 because nobody chased the DNO and MOP coordination. The site cannot charge a vehicle for the in-between three weeks.

Put each milestone in the contract with its own date, its own deliverable list, and its own liquidated-damages exposure if missed.

A worked example — real 4-week 8-socket depot install

Site: Logistics operator, Midlands, 35-van depot. Brief: 8 × 22kW twin-socket workplace AC chargers (16 sockets total), depot return-to-base overnight charging. Existing three-phase supply with spare capacity confirmed by initial desktop review.

Week 1:

Week 2:

Week 3:

Week 4:

Day 28: energised, signed off, charging vans.

The variant when DNO bumps it to 7 weeks: the same plan, but the DNO comes back at end-of-week-2 asking for an upstream switchgear stiffening (not full reinforcement, just a switchgear swap at the supply intake) costing an additional £14,000 and adding 3 weeks of lead time on the switchgear part. Site still energises at day 49. Still on the fast end of the realistic curve.

What to put in your contract

Most install contracts are written by the installer's commercial team and signed by the customer's procurement team without anyone in operations reading them. Get these clauses in:

What to ask before you sign

  1. "Show me 10 examples of installs you've completed in the last 24 months with actual contract-to-energisation dates, not commissioning dates."
  2. "What's your DNO submission turnaround from the day I sign?"
  3. "What's the contingency if the DNO comes back asking for reinforcement — who pays, who manages, what's the timeline?"
  4. "What's the hardware lead time today, for the specific units you're quoting?"
  5. "Who's the MOP, when do they get booked, and is that in the contract?"
  6. "What's the liquidated damages exposure if energisation slips past the contract date?"
  7. "Is the unit OCPP open-protocol from day one, or am I locked into your back-office?"

If the answers are vague on more than two of these, you're talking to a brochure. Walk.

The short version

A 4-week UK depot EV install is real for about 30% of sites and a fantasy for 20%. The DNO application owns the critical path — G98 is 28 days, G99 is 11–65 working days. Make sure the contract names three milestones — commissioning, energisation, sign-off — each with its own date and its own liquidated-damages exposure. Anyone quoting 4 weeks before the survey is guessing in their own favour. Anyone who can't show you contract-to-energisation evidence on 10 prior installs is selling brochures.

Want us to do the maths on your site?

Book a site survey at /site-survey. We'll come back with a realistic timeline distribution for your specific postcode, supply profile and hardware spec, a DNO position estimate based on local network headroom, and a contract template that names the three milestones in writing. Including the DNO bit. Especially the DNO bit.

Site Survey

Read this article in the app at energy-partners.co.uk/insights/depot-ev-installation-timeline-uk. Energy Partners installs and manages commercial EV charging, solar and battery storage for UK venues — talk to us.