A restaurant or shop does not need overnight charging — it needs a useful top-up inside the time a customer is already staying. The EV-ACT3204PE is a 22 kW three-phase wallbox, so a car that accepts 22 kW can add roughly 20 kWh during a one-hour meal. Access is controlled by RFID card or the app, so the business decides who charges: every customer, cardholders only, or staff only.
Key Takeaways
- A 22 kW wallbox matches restaurant and retail dwell times: roughly 20 kWh inside a one-hour stay for a car that accepts the full rate.
- The car’s onboard charger sets the real rate — the figures are labelled arithmetic with about 10% allowed for losses.
- RFID and app access let the business decide who charges instead of leaving the charger open to anyone.
- Free, priced, or bundled is the business’s own policy decision — settle it before installation, not after.
The Dwell-Time Match
Customer charging works when the stay and the session are the same length. The figures below are arithmetic, not a promise: they assume a steady rate and allow about 10% for charging losses. What a car actually takes is set by its own onboard charger — a car that accepts 11 kW AC charges at 11 kW on this wallbox.
| Customer stay | Energy added if the car accepts 22 kW | Energy added if the car accepts 11 kW |
|---|---|---|
| About 30 minutes (a quick shop) | ≈ 10 kWh | ≈ 5 kWh |
| About 1 hour (a meal) | ≈ 20 kWh | ≈ 10 kWh |
| About 2 hours (a long lunch or large shop) | ≈ 40 kWh | ≈ 20 kWh |
Our general guide to EV charging for restaurants and retail covers the business case for dwell time; the point here is narrower — a 22 kW unit makes even the short stays worthwhile, because the energy lands while the customer is inside, not after.
Who Gets to Charge Is a Setting, Not a Hope
An open charger in a customer car park attracts non-customers. This wallbox lists two controls:
- RFID cards. A session starts with a registered card. A business can hold cards at the till or reception and lend one per visit, so charging stays tied to people who are actually on the premises.
- App access. Access settings are managed from the operator’s side, so staff vehicles and customer vehicles can be treated as separate groups.
- Open mode. Left unrestricted, the charger serves whoever plugs in — simplest, and the right choice for some sites, but it is a choice to make deliberately.
How cards are added and removed follows the charger’s manual; our guide to RFID and user management for shared chargers explains how card lists work on shared sites.
Free, Priced, or Part of the Visit — Your Decision
Whether customers pay for the energy, get it free with a meal, or never see it as a separate item is the business’s own commercial decision — no model is treated here as the rule. The arithmetic behind any of them is the same: the energy a session delivers, from the table above, multiplied by what the business itself pays per kWh on its own electricity contract. Settle the policy before installation, because the access settings are easier to configure once, at the start.
The Wallbox on a Commercial Site
The EV-ACT3204PE is a hardwired 22 kW wallbox for three-phase supplies (32 A, 380–400 V) with a tethered Type 2 cable, RFID and app control, an IP66 housing for outdoor car parks, and a CE mark. A three-phase supply is the precondition — many commercial premises have one, and a licensed installer confirms the site’s capacity before anything is fixed. EVDANCE’s commercial charging page covers the wider range, including the dual-connector AC station for larger sites.
Frequently Asked Questions
Will every customer’s car charge at 22 kW?
No. The wallbox offers up to 22 kW; the car’s onboard charger sets the actual rate. A car that accepts 11 kW adds about half the energy shown in the 22 kW column, which is still a useful top-up inside a meal.
Should a restaurant charge customers for the electricity?
That is the business’s own decision — free with a visit, priced per session, or limited to staff and regulars are all workable policies. Work out the cost per session from the table above and your own electricity price, then set the access controls to match the policy.
How many wallboxes does a restaurant need?
Start from the car park, not the menu: how many EV-driving customers arrive at once at peak, and how long they stay. One 22 kW unit turns over several cars in an evening because each stay is short; a licensed installer can confirm what your supply supports before you commit to a number.
Related Reading
- EV Charging for Restaurants and Retail: Turning Dwell Time Into Visits
- RFID and User Management for Shared EV Chargers
- How to Plan a Workplace EV Charging Program
- Hotel EV Charging: How to Plan Guest Charging That Pays Off
