Workplace EV charging: the employer's complete guide.

Electric vehicle adoption among UK employees is accelerating. By the end of 2025, one in five new cars registered in the UK was an electric or plug-in hybrid. For businesses, this creates a straightforward opportunity: install workplace charging before your staff ask for it, claim the government grant while it covers 75% of the cost, and lock in the tax advantages.

Three things make the business case strong right now:

Since April 2018, HMRC has exempted workplace EV charging from benefit-in-kind (BIK) tax. This means:

• An employee who charges their personal EV at a workplace chargepoint pays no BIK tax on the electricity provided, even though it is a personal benefit.
• An employee charging a company car at a workplace chargepoint also pays no BIK tax on the charging.
• The employer pays no employer National Insurance on the value of the benefit.

For context: if an employer paid for an employee's home fuel costs, this would be fully taxable as a benefit in kind. Workplace EV charging is a deliberate carve-out designed to accelerate adoption.

The hardware and installation cost of a workplace EV charger qualifies for capital allowances as plant and machinery. Under the Annual Investment Allowance (AIA), businesses can deduct the full cost of qualifying plant and machinery (up to £1 million per year) in the year of purchase — meaning 100% of the charger and installation cost can be offset against taxable profit in year one.

For a business installing 10 chargers at a total cost of £15,000 (after the WCS grant: approximately £11,500), the full £11,500 net cost is deductible against taxable profit in year one. At the corporation tax rate of 25%, that is a tax saving of approximately £2,875.

Combined with the WCS grant (up to £3,500 for 10 sockets), the effective net cost of a 10-socket installation could be reduced by over £6,000 from the gross price. Consult your accountant on the specific treatment for your business.

The WCS application runs through the OZEV portal on GOV.UK. The process takes around 20 minutes. The key rule: apply and receive your voucher before booking your installation.

1. 01
   Check your eligibility

   Confirm you have a Companies House number (or equivalent), off-street parking, and that your parking is accessible to employees or fleet vehicles.
2. 02
   Apply online at GOV.UK

   Search 'Workplace Charging Scheme' on GOV.UK and complete the online application. You will need your Companies House number, the address of the installation site, and an estimate of how many sockets you need.
3. 03
   Receive your WCS voucher

   OZEV issues a voucher confirming your grant entitlement. The voucher is valid for 180 days (6 months) from the date of issue. Book your installation within this window.
4. 04
   Get quotes from OZEV-authorised installers

   Only OZEV-registered installers can claim the WCS grant. Share your voucher reference when requesting quotes. The installer will confirm the grant deduction on their quote.
5. 05
   Installation day

   The installer fits the chargers, deducts the WCS amount from your invoice, and claims reimbursement from OZEV directly. You pay only the balance.
6. 06
   OZEV reimburses the installer

   The installer submits their claim to OZEV post-installation. You have no further paperwork to complete.

For most UK workplaces the right charger is a 7kW AC smart charger per bay. Here is why:

For a standard 8-hour workday, a 7kW charger adds around 200 miles of range: more than any employee needs. The only reason to go faster than 7kW at a standard workplace is fleet vehicles that need to be charged and redeployed within the working day.

All 7kW chargers installed since June 2022 are smart chargers by law, meaning they can be scheduled, monitored, and managed remotely. For multi-socket sites, smart charge management software is worth considering from the outset.

For sites with more than four or five chargers, charge management software handles the complexity of balancing load, tracking usage, and allocating costs fairly between employees.

Key features to look for:

• Load balancing: distributes available power across active chargers so the site stays within its DNO connection capacity. Without this, a site with 10 chargers and an 80A supply would trip the breaker if all 10 started simultaneously.
• Usage reporting: shows kWh delivered per session, per vehicle, or per driver. Essential for billing back employees who charge personal vehicles, or for tracking fuel cost savings versus a diesel fleet.
• RFID access control: limits which drivers can use which chargers, and logs sessions to individual users.
• Remote management: allows administrators to set charging schedules, pricing, and access rules from a dashboard without visiting the site.

Popular platforms used in UK workplace charging include Ohme for Business, ChargePoint, Monta, and Zaptec. Your installer can advise on which integrates best with the charger hardware they fit.