Infinity Park in the British Midlands is one of the few business parks in the UK with ‘Enterprise Status’ and, with that badge of honour, it needed the right solution that would provide turnkey EV charging on the site.
The transition to electrification is accelerating despite scepticism from some quarters. The benefits are obvious: zero emissions from the tailpipe, lower costs? EVs are, on average, considered to be cheaper than petrol or diesel equivalents with affordable running costs. At Infinity Park in Derby, it was therefore imperative to install charging infrastructure that would meet its clients’ needs and future-proof the facility to allow visitors and employees to charge their EVs easily.
Commercial developments increasingly need to think beyond simply providing a handful of EV charge points: the criteria for choosing the right supplier with the correct solution depends on the location, needs of the users, volume, usability, durability and also affordability. The challenge is to create charging infrastructure that works for employees and commercial users, while providing the flexibility to expand as demand increases. As more drivers switch to electric, business hubs such as Infinity Park must meet current charging needs while having the ability to expand its provision if more charging points are required.
Infinity Park therefore turned to EV charging specialist Sevadis. The UK company was chosen because it has the expertise and the product line-up to meet the demands of the site that comprises high-specification offices and workshops.
The emphasis at Infinity Park is on energy efficiency, and EV charging is just one of a number of technologies used to guarantee a sustainable and cost-effective future. EV charging ducting was installed across the entire car park and HGV bays to ensure future expansion. As the proportion of employees, visitors and commercial operators using electric vehicles grows at Infinity Park, additional charging equipment may well need to be introduced without having to start the underlying infrastructure again from scratch. That’s where Sevadis was able to draw upon its considerable knowledge and expertise.
For Sevadis, the charger mix was vital. To ensure maximum flexibility, it installed a combination of AC 7.4 kW dual pillar, single-phase charging points and two dual-port DC fast-charging chargers. The UK EV charging company, which has been supplying and installing electric charging solutions since 2016, used its Type 2, 7.4kW MaxiCharger that has been hugely successful with UK buyers thanks to a comprehensive three-year warranty, an easy-to-use app, smart design and tariff integration where users can get access to the cheapest energy rates.
Because the MaxiCharger has built-in flexibility, it is also appropriate for commercial use. Ten MaxiChargers were installed alongside the two fast-charging 50kW fast-charging units as Infinity Park sought to provide much-needed choice for businesses that have varying requirements for their employees. The aim was to cater for those who can make use of lower-powered charging while their cars are parked throughout the day, while the faster-charging units could support drivers and vehicles that would need a faster turnaround.
And it was not just about the hardware. Infinity Park required a solution that was easy to manage, where usage can be monitored at the touch of a button, and billing for EV charging is simple without the need for costly administrative support systems. Innovative cloud-based Monta software used by the Sevadis units enables EV charging to be managed efficiently while the amount of charge delivered and the subsequent cost can be calculated accurately for seamless billing.
Cris Chapman, managing director of Sevadis, said: “Infinity Park set itself an extremely high bar and wanted to provide the best possible facilities for its partners on the site. We were able to provide a solution that suited their needs and met a distinct brief: easy to use, durable, sustainable and easy to install. Infinity Park turned to us because they knew we had the expertise, technology, products and flexibility to deliver a fantastic charging capability that would be appropriate for all their clients.”
