Well-designed charging infrastructure is particularly important for electric heavy-duty vehicles (HDVs). These vehicles require more space and higher-powered charge points to support their larger batteries, meaning organisations cannot rely solely on the public charging network.

If you are a public sector organisation operating HDVs, you will need to transition to electric HDVs to support the Scottish Government’s target for public sector organisations to stop procuring new internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles from 2030. For more information, see zero-emission HDVs.

Installing direct current (DC) charge points for faster charging is common, although alternating current (AC) charging may still be a suitable option in some circumstances.

• For example, a Volvo FE can be fully charged in approximately 1.5 hours using a 150 kW DC charger or in 6 to 8 hours using a 22 kW AC charger.

An alternative solution is to use two 43 kW AC chargers simultaneously, providing a combined charging capacity of 86 kW.

The charging infrastructure you choose will depend on the HDV model, its charging capabilities and the amount of downtime available for charging. The range of electric HDVs continues to improve and is expected to meet the daily mileage requirements of most heavy-duty vehicle fleets.

For vehicles with sufficient downtime, lower-powered charge points, such as 22 kW AC units, may be appropriate. However, some operations may require higher-powered charge points rated at 150 kW or more to meet operational demands.

High-powered charge points can consume a significant proportion of a site’s available electrical capacity. You may need to work with your distribution network operator (DNO) to increase available capacity in the future. Connections designed to support very high-powered DC chargers are also likely to incur standing capacity charges.