Commercial EV Charging in the UK: A 2025 Buyer's Guide
An independent overview of commercial EV charging for UK landlords, fleets, retail and hospitality — use cases, costs, funding models and how to avoid CPO lock-in.
Commercial EV charging covers every non-residential chargepoint in the UK — workplaces, retail car parks, fleet depots, hotels, and destination sites. Getting it right is now a board-level decision: the wrong charger mix ties up capital, the wrong contract locks the estate to a single CPO, and the wrong DNO application delays occupancy.
The four commercial use cases
- Workplace — long dwell, AC 7–22kW, ROI via employee benefit and salary sacrifice. See our landlord solutions.
- Fleet & depot — overnight AC + a small DC contingency, sized to duty cycle. See fleet solutions.
- Retail & hospitality — dwell-matched mix; 22kW AC or 50kW DC where footfall is 30–90 minutes. See retail solutions.
- Destination & hotels — AC overnight for guests. See our destination charging guide.
How much does commercial EV charging cost?
Installed all-in per charger, in the UK in 2025:
- 7kW AC — £1,200–£2,500
- 22kW AC — £2,000–£4,500
- 50kW DC — £12,000–£25,000
- 150kW DC rapid — £30,000–£60,000
- 350kW ultra-rapid — £55,000–£120,000+
Our full cost guide breaks down civils, DNO fees and grants line-by-line.
Funding models
- Owner-funded — highest returns, biggest capex.
- Fully-funded CPO concession — zero capex, ~10% revenue share, 10–15 year exclusivity. Attractive on paper, expensive over the term.
- Hybrid — landlord funds the electrical works, CPO funds hardware. Usually the best long-term economics.
The independent-consultant lens
Every CPO's proposal is optimised for their hardware and back-office. An independent, vendor-agnostic feasibility study typically saves 20–40% on scheme cost and, more importantly, keeps the estate open to any future OCPP-compliant operator.
Grants to stack
WCS, EVIG, EV Chargepoint Grant for Landlords, ORCS, Plug-in Van Grant. Our grants guide covers eligibility.
Start with feasibility, not procurement
Every commercial EV project should start with three numbers: available capacity, dwell time, and utilisation. Get them wrong and you'll over-spec by 3× or under-spec by half. Run yours in our free feasibility calculator or book a call.