EV Fleet Depot Charging Requirements: A Guide for Logistics Operators

Start with how the vehicles work

Every depot decision follows from three numbers: how many vehicles charge at the depot, how far each drives in a shift, and how long it sits at the depot between shifts. Collect these for each route before choosing any hardware.

• Energy per vehicle per day: daily distance multiplied by the vehicle's consumption.
• Dwell time: the hours each vehicle is parked and able to charge.
• Peak overlap: how many vehicles are plugged in at the same time.

1. Grid capacity

Power is usually the hardest constraint and the slowest to change. Find your site's current connection capacity and how much is spare after the building's own use. Upgrading a connection can take months, so ask your utility early.

Load management reduces the capacity you need. Instead of every charger drawing full power at once, the software shares the available power between vehicles so the connection is never exceeded.

2. The right charger mix

• AC chargers for vehicles parked overnight or for long breaks. Cheaper, and easier on the connection.
• DC fast chargers for vehicles that must turn around quickly between shifts.
• Most depots need mostly AC, with a few DC chargers for top-ups.
• Choose chargers that support OCPP, so they work with any compatible depot software and you are not tied to one supplier.

3. Charging schedules

Decide which vehicles charge when. Vehicles leaving first should be charged first, and charging spread across the night keeps peak power lower. Where your utility charges different rates by time of day, scheduling charging into cheaper hours lowers the energy bill.

4. Records for every vehicle and driver

A fleet needs to know what each vehicle cost to run. Depot software should record every charging session against a vehicle, a driver and a depot, without the driver paying at the plug.

• Energy used per vehicle, per driver and per depot.
• Monthly statements ready for finance.
• Unusual sessions flagged, such as a vehicle charging far more than its route needs.

5. Access control

Depot chargers are for the fleet, not the public. The software should decide who can charge and where. Multi-depot fleets need a login for each depot manager that shows only their site, while head office sees every depot.

6. Monitoring and maintenance

A charger that fails overnight means a vehicle that cannot leave in the morning. You need to see the status of every charger live, be alerted when one stops, and have a clear process for repair. Ask any supplier who responds to faults, and how quickly.

7. Site layout and safety

• Bays sized for the vehicles, with cables that reach each vehicle's charging port.
• Protection for chargers from vehicle impact.
• Cable routes and electrical work planned with a qualified installer, following local electrical and fire regulations.
• Space and spare cable capacity for chargers you will add later.

Depot readiness checklist

1. Daily energy per vehicle, dwell times and peak overlap measured.
2. Spare grid capacity known; upgrade requested if needed.
3. Charger mix chosen: AC for long dwell, DC for quick turnaround.
4. OCPP chargers, so the software can be chosen separately.
5. Load management and charging schedules planned.
6. Software that records sessions per vehicle, driver and depot.
7. Access by depot, and alerts when a charger fails.
8. Layout, safety and room to grow agreed with the installer.

See fleet EV charging management with Savekar, or read what an OCPP backend does.