When implementing an electric vehicle (EV) charging strategy, it’s crucial to understand the journey ahead. You need to know where you’re starting from, what you need, and how they fit together. Our EV charging maturity model does exactly this. It delivers a clear structure, breaking down the journey into achievable stages.
However, if you haven’t had a chance to explore our maturity model guide yet you’re able to download it below:
Now if you’re wondering how you can progress through the maturity model, let’s guide you through this process, providing actionable strategies to advance from one stage to the next.
- 1. From Explore to Plan
During the Explore stage, you consider the viability of EV for your business. You’ll discover its benefits, engage key stakeholders, and secure senior leadership buy-in. Later, the Plan stage sees you using those insights to outline your tangible objectives, such as how many chargepoints to install and over what timeframe. The discussions surrounding EV charging will start to expand, from understanding stakeholders’ requirements to specific logistical challenges of your sites.
At this stage, it’s essential to enlist the support of an experienced EV partner. Their expertise will ensure your plans become reality. At the same time, always focus on your budget, recognising your current needs and forecasting future demands.
Lastly, don’t forget, there are numerous government grants available. Include these in your financial planning as they can significantly offset the expenses linked to charging setup and infrastructure.
- 2. Planning to Pilot
A crucial part of the Planning stage involves understanding whether the capacity of your on-site power meets your EV charging needs. The right partner will help you to navigate the power availability challenge, offering solutions like power upgrades, on-site generation or load balancing technologies.
No need to worry if your building is older or not conventionally suited for such installations; remember, every problem has a solution. Next, decide where initial EV chargepoints will make the most impact – perhaps near customer, visitor or staff parking or within your depot.
With chargers in place, it’s time to gather and interpret data. This information will help refine your EV strategy and highlight any potential operational challenges before they become a problem. Finally, it’s critical to create a feedback loop to provide insight for improving future stages.
Once you’re in the Pilot stage, this is where things really get moving as the EV chargepoints get installed, giving you the first glimpse into how it all works in practice. The pilot provides user experience insights and highlights areas for improvement before a wider rollout.
The right partner will help you to navigate the power availability challenge, offering solutions like power upgrades, on-site generation or load balancing technologies.
- 3. Piloting to scaling up (Connect)
After wrapping up your pilot, sit down with relevant stakeholders to sift through the data and feedback collected. Engage in what we call constructive hindsight: what worked well, and what could be improved? Be thorough in evaluating performance against your initial objectives. And remember, honest feedback is more than just useful; it’s essential for growth.
With insights in hand, it’s time to scale up. The goal is to Connect by replicating the success of your pilot across additional sites. It’s not only about installing more chargers, but also ensuring your infrastructure can handle this increase without any hiccups.
As you scale, keep the lines of communication open. Your partnership with your EV charging partner and communication with your network users should get stronger as you move forward. Collaboration is an essential component of wider implementation.
- 4. Achieving a Connected EV charging ecosystem
By integrating your expanding network of charging stations, you’re now in the Connected stage. This is where your EV charging infrastructure becomes a consistent and reliable aspect of your operational infrastructure.
Now it’s time for some finesse – tighten the integration of your EV infrastructure into your daily operations by using data and smart management solutions. Use analytics to monitor charger use and assess performance. Analytical insights will help you make data-driven decisions that improve usage and manage energy consumption.
Your charging infrastructure should be agile, accommodating not only current requirements but also future expansions. As EVs become more widespread, your strategy should continually evolve to match the pace of adoption and technological advancements.
- 5. Nurturing Maturity and exploring Monetisation
Reaching the Maturity stage in your EV charging implementation shows a well-established and efficient operation. What was once a budding project is now fully integrated into your business, delivering reliable services to users.
The Monetise stage is where forward-thinking businesses explore generating revenue from their EV charging network. Innovative pricing strategies could be considered, such as setting different rates for visitors and employees, or making your chargers available for public use.
To successfully monetise, be familiar with customer needs and market trends. If you open your charge points up to the public, the right EV partner can support you in driving utilisation of the charge points with joint marketing activities to increase revenue. It’s not only about making a profit, of course, but also enhancing user experience and promoting EV adoption as well.
Navigating through the stages of the EV charging maturity model is no small feat. It demands perseverance, strategic planning, and an openness to adapt based on real-world findings. This serves as a guide for this, with each stage calling for specific attention and a tailored approach.
As we move ever closer to a future dominated by electric mobility, the steps taken today will prepare your business for tomorrow’s demands. Your journey through the EV charging maturity model is not just about implementation – it’s about embedding sustainable practices into the core of your business.
Latest insight
Your guide to navigating EV maturity
Our EV charging maturity model is a six-stage journey. Whether you are at the very beginning of your EV journey, or have already begun your transition to electric mobility, our model helps you to identify where your business currently is. When you know where you are, you'll be able to use the model to lay the groundwork for effectively moving forwards to the next stage.
Start your EV charging journey with our roadmap guide
Our roadmap guide provides the support and understanding you need to make this process smooth and manageable. It explains the factors to consider with your EV partner and how to choose the right one for your needs. Find out how effortlessly you can facilitate the adoption of your EV charging solution and pave the way for a greener and more efficient future.
Related articles
How Equans helps businesses achieve the right level of EV maturity
Getting some expert help to support you in navigating through EV maturity is crucial to ensure all your hard work produces great results. With over 10 years in the EV sector, Equans EV brings a wealth of experience to ensure each step towards your EV maturity is unique and perfectly fits your business needs.
Discover the hidden costs of delaying your fleet’s transition to electric
There are various reasons why some businesses are slow to make the transition to electric vehicle (EV) fleets, perhaps believing the process will be too complicated or expensive, or even not seeing the potential gains as worth the risk.
Why Equans is your trusted partner for EV charging solutions
Our comprehensive approach and extensive experience make us the ideal partner for your EV journey. Read the full article to learn why Equans stands out and how we can assist in making your transition to electric vehicles seamless and successful.