A council adding EV charging to its own car parks is planning dwell-time charging: most cars stay for an hour or several, so AC charging fits the stay, and one floor-standing dual-connector station can serve two bays from a single unit. The planning work comes before the hardware choice. Pick sites from your own counts, confirm the supply at each site, and tender on outcomes, not on a brand sheet.
Key Takeaways
- Rank sites from the council’s own occupancy and dwell data; long-stay car parks fit AC charging first.
- One dual-connector station serves two bays from one foundation, one supply run and one platform connection.
- Confirm supply capacity per site before fixing station numbers.
- Tender on outcomes — bays served, open-protocol connection, session records — and verify claims in writing.
Start With the Car Parks You Already Count
A council does not need a published statistic to choose its first sites. It already holds the evidence: ticket sales, permit numbers and occupancy counts for every car park it runs. Long-stay car parks, where the same cars sit through a working day or a shopping trip, are the natural fit for AC charging, because the vehicle is parked far longer than the charge takes. Short-stay bays with rapid turnover are a different job and usually a later phase. Rank sites by dwell time and demand, and let that ranking — not headlines about EV adoption — set the rollout order.
What One Dual-connector Station Gives a Site
The planning value of a dual-connector station is that one installed unit covers two marked bays. The figures below are the EV-AC03201T’s listed specification, stated as planning inputs:
| Planning question | EV-AC03201T, as listed |
|---|---|
| Bays served per unit | Two — one per Type 2 connector |
| Power | Up to 43 kW shared across both connectors, up to 22 kW per connector |
| Driver access | RFID |
| Back-office connection | OCPP 1.6J, to the operator’s charging platform |
| Outdoor rating and form | IP54, floor-standing, with a 7-inch touchscreen |
Two bays per unit halves the foundations, supply runs and network connections of serving the same bays one by one. Both connectors can charge at once inside the shared ceiling: two drivers plug in, and neither waits for the other to finish.
Power and Groundwork Come Before the Tender
Each car park’s existing electrical capacity is a question for the distribution network operator and the council’s electrical contractor, not something a charger listing can answer. Ask for a capacity assessment per site before fixing station numbers: the answer decides whether a site takes stations now or needs supply work first. Groundwork, bay marking and signage belong to the site works package, and sequencing them after the capacity answer avoids digging twice. Treat hardware, civil works and the back-office service as three separate lines in the plan, each with its own owner.
Write the Tender Around Outcomes
A public buyer gets better bids by specifying outcomes and verifying claims in writing. Useful outcome lines include: bays served per installed unit; an open-protocol connection (OCPP) to the council’s chosen charging platform, so the back office is not locked to the hardware maker — our OCPP explainer for charge point operators sets out what to ask; and session records the council can use for its own reporting. The same verification discipline applies to shared-parking projects generally, as our guide to shared-parking charging shows. Other tender items are not hardware facts at all: accessibility duties, which payment methods must be accepted, how prices must be displayed, and any grant funding conditions are set by the council’s own legal and procurement advice and the funding body’s terms. Confirm them with your advisers and write them in as requirements on the bidder.
The Station in This Plan
The EV-AC03201T dual-connector AC station is the worked example above: two Type 2 connectors, up to 43 kW shared (22 kW per connector), RFID access, OCPP 1.6J, IP54, floor-standing. For the wider public and workplace range, see our commercial EV charging solutions. Whatever tariff the council later sets is its own decision — the models operators choose between are compared in our guide to charging-station pricing models.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many bays does one dual-connector station serve?
Two — one per connector. Both can be in use at once, sharing the station’s 43 kW ceiling, with up to 22 kW available to a single connector.
Can the council keep its own charging platform?
The station’s listed back-office connection is OCPP 1.6J, the open protocol that platforms use to manage chargers. Confirm compatibility with your chosen platform provider in writing before the tender is awarded.
Who sets the price drivers pay?
The council or its appointed operator. How prices must be displayed and which payment methods must be accepted are local rules to confirm with your own advisers — a hardware listing decides neither.
Related Reading
- OCPP Explained: What Charge Point Operators Need From EV Charger Hardware
- How Much Do EV Charging Stations Charge? Pricing Models Explained
- Apartment and Condo EV Charging: Solutions for Shared Parking
