Should Workplace EV Charging Be Available?

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Last Updated on: 26th April 2025, 12:33 am

A recent discussion paper by the Electric Vehicle Council has provoked conversations around workplace EV charging. If employees have electric vehicles, could workplace EV charging be used as an incentive — to return to the office, to headhunt talent, as an added bonus, etc.? What might be the issues? Bear in mind, it doesn’t have to be free, and it doesn’t have to be fast. But it could be.

Although the paper seems to be skewed towards high-speed charging at larger businesses, I expect that there are as many options for charging at work as there are sizes and locations of businesses. For example, the simplest scenario is the small business owner who arrives at work and plugs his or her car into an external power point for trickle charging during the day. When it is an employee’s car, that’s when it gets tricky. Will the drivers of petrol cars ask for some sort of recompense: “Are you going to install a bowser for us?” Who will pay and how will payment be made? Then, there are tax implications under Australia’s fringe benefit tax laws.

I have written previously about Noodoe and their payment system. This is one method that is readily available and easy to access. Some of the issues around strata title would also apply, particularly for larger businesses or those located in shopping centres. We might even get people back into the office!

“Workplaces should now consider installing EV charging stations for their employees to boost engagement and attract more talents to the business,” EVSE suggests. If workplace EV charging is offered as an incentive, then it could be provided free, as per a contract with the employee. Businesses could also offer “pay for charge” for their employees and perhaps the general public. In the right circumstances, this could become an income stream for the business, even attracting more customers. Some multi-storey carparks in the Brisbane CBD are already offering this service.

As is Optus Australia. “Having EV charging stations at your work or within your employee or visitor parking area is a great way to ensure employees are given the opportunity to play their part in your company’s sustainability goals. It’s a worthy investment that is also attractive to existing and potential employees who may be wanting to make choices around their careers and which companies align with their personal values on environmental sustainability.” —Catherine Alekna – Sustainable Transport Coordinator, Optus Australia.

Solar quotes makes the point that, if employee cars are charged during the midday peak when prices go negative, the grid operators may pay you to charge. Make money, save the planet and support the grid all at the same time, with workplace EV charging. Smoothing out the duck curve. “Sunny Australia doesn’t need Saudi Arabia, if we just focus on storing the energy available to us instead of importing fossils from extremist theocracies.”

In a best possible scenario, an employee could charge at work when electricity is cheap, then use V2H technology to power their house in the evening when electricity is expensive.

Eventually, most car parking spaces will be available to provide access to charging. It doesn’t have to be high speed, doesn’t have to be free. Anywhere a car is parked for a length of time is suitable. If the car is parked at the railway station, it would be good to be trickle charging during the day.

In 2018, while visiting Norway, we observed a lot of innovative ways to access workplace EV charging, including cords hanging out of bottom floor windows, and employees given leave to move their cars around the charging provided (2 hours at a time) in the nearby council car park.

I sought examples from my EV Facebook community and received some good ideas. This one talks up the benefits of considering dynamic charging: “My employer had around a dozen car parks and a 100amp 3-phase grid connection, meaning that three 32-amp chargers would use the whole supply from the street, leaving nothing for the hardest working part of the business, the coffee machine.”

“Things would be alleviated by the 30kW rooftop solar system, but not at 6:30 am when the queue for caffeine was most critical. So, I would recommend that load balancing (often achieved via OPCC connectivity) will be very handy in the future.” This is smart workplace EV charging.

One worker in the CBD lamented that his company would not even provide a parking spot, let alone a charger for his EV commute. Then there is the fear of a backlash – “The last thing we need is discontent amongst the other staff, why aren’t we giving them free petrol.” I would contend that in most circumstances, employees should pay — the convenience would make it worth it.

One responder quoted the figure of “$AU 30 worth of free electricity every day they work,” and was met with this answer: “if you are on a 7kW charger and work 8hrs you would get at most 56kWh. If power was 30c that would be $16.8 but you would have to drive 400km every day to be able to get that much. If their commute was 50km return that would be about 8kWh. At 30c per kWh that would be $2.40. Not even worth doing the accounting. How much are tea and biscuits?”

Some pointed out that any business with space for a car park would also have space for solar panels. Many plead with the audience to reconsider driving a car into the CBD at all, suggesting that they ride a bike or catch public transport.

What about sunk costs and maintenance? Who pays for that? Those were questions from one commenter.

One employee shared the bad experience of his place of employment: “Due to our Fire Safety Engineer, charging any Electrical Vehicle including eBikes, hover boards, and cars, utes, or trucks is totally banned. There is an attitude on some management that staff shouldn’t get something for free that other staff don’t get. I’ve even suggested approaching ChargeFox, Elanga, and Evie for paid charging.

“Ironically, because the office buildings are clad in the same Aluminum Composite panels of Grenfell Towers fame, there are signs out in front of the buildings saying EVs can’t park there, right where a petrol-powered Honda Civic caught fire around 2010. Meanwhile, contractor’s vehicles with gas cylinders on board, can park there. The Engineer doesn’t trust the data at Evfiresafe.com.”

Regenev tells me that “we have installed for a business that has 8 free chargers out the front of their work premises.” So we have evidence of progress. “They have a large solar array,” Arran adds.

Here is an opportunity going begging: “I’m in a regional area, and in our 50-employee carpark, we’ve got 6 Tesla, 1 BMW, 1 MG, 2 BYD, 1 Mazda. No business charging anywhere in town.” Surely a solar canopy and some chargers would pay for themselves in this situation?

And a forward-thinking business: “My former employer had 8 EV chargers in its basement car park. 4 years ago, I could always get a charger pretty much at any time of the day. At the end of my stint there a year ago, all were almost always in use by 8am.” My thoughts are that it is like charging for mobile phones — there was none, and now free USB ports are everywhere. Hopefully it will be the same for EV charging, eventually.

Here’s a viewpoint with an eye on tax benefits: “The answer is really simple. Petrol is expensive and electricity is cheap. Electricity is tax deductible and not traceable and petrol attracts fringe benefits tax.” SHHH.… Don’t tell the Australian Tax Office!

We have a long way to go before charging is ubiquitous and convenient. The use of EV charging as an incentive for customers and staff is being discussed and some progress is being made. Just reflecting on my own work situation, the Queensland government has installed solar on the roofs of schools throughout the state. However, I think that were I still teaching, I would find it difficult to access power to charge the car. There were plenty of external power points, but I am sure I would get a negative response from other staff.

What are your thoughts on workplace charging? Can you charge at work? Remember, it doesn’t have to be fast and it doesn’t have to be free. It just needs to be available. Workplace charging will lead to a brighter future.