There is no chargers-per-vehicle ratio that survives contact with a real delivery fleet. The count comes from an energy balance: total the fleet’s overnight energy, divide by what one point can hand over inside the dwell window, and you have a floor. Then test the floor against two realities: whether anyone is on site to rotate vehicles, and whether every vehicle must leave full. The answer is the larger number.
Key Takeaways
- Count energy first: the night’s total divided by what one point delivers in the dwell window is the floor.
- Rotation only lowers the count if someone is actually there to rotate.
- Dual-connector stations are two points sharing one power total; count both facts.
- Growth and a down unit are part of the count, decided deliberately, not discovered later.
Step 1: Total the Night’s Energy
Start from route data, not battery sizes. Each vehicle’s daily route energy is already in the fleet’s records: telematics, dispatch logs, or the fuel records of the diesels being replaced. Add the vehicles up: that is the night’s energy bill, the kilowatt-hours the depot must deliver before morning. Winter routes and ageing batteries argue for a margin, inside this number, not a later guess.
Step 2: What One Point Can Hand Over in the Window
A point’s overnight output is its rate multiplied by the hours vehicles are actually parked. The U.S. DOT puts Level 2 at 7-19 kW, and at the modest end of that band a point on an eight-hour dwell delivers a working van’s day with room to spare. Count points, not chargers: a dual-connector station is two points whose connectors share one total, so two vehicles charging together split it. How much power each vehicle needs is a separate question, worked in our guide to sizing depot AC chargers for vans and light commercial vehicles.
A Worked Example, Invented for Illustration
| Input | Example value |
|---|---|
| Fleet energy per night | 540 kWh (12 vans at 45 kWh) |
| Dwell window | 10 hours |
| One point at 11 kW across the window | About 110 kWh |
| Energy floor | 5 points |
| With no night staff to rotate | 9-12 points |
With twelve vans at 45 kWh each, the night’s bill is 540 kWh. A point sustaining 11 kW across the ten-hour window hands over about 110 kWh, so energy alone says five points cover the fleet, each serving two or three vans in turn. Now the reality test: all twelve return within the same hour, and nobody works nights here. Five points means somebody swaps vehicles at 1 a.m., and nobody will. The honest count is closer to one point per van that must leave full, or a deliberate split: six longest-route vans get a point each, six short-route vans alternate nights on three shared points, nine in total. The energy floor did not change; the staffing did.
The Other Two Checks
- Growth. Fleets rarely shrink, and conduit and supply capacity are cheapest before the concrete is poured: plan the installation for the fleet you expect, even if phase one fits fewer points.
- The unit that is down. A point out of service removes its share of the night’s energy. If departures cannot slip, spare capacity is part of the count; if a delayed van is a nuisance, not a failed route, it is optional.
- The exception class. A vehicle that returns late and leaves early may not fit the AC window at all. That is a DC question, answered from the turnaround window, not by adding AC points.
Hardware That Fits the Count
The EV-AC03201T puts two points in one floor-standing station: two Type 2 connectors sharing up to 43 kW (22 kW per connector), OCPP 1.6J, RFID, IP54. In count terms it halves the boxes, not the arithmetic: two vans on one station split its output. The EV-ACT3204PE 22 kW wallbox is the single-bay point. Either way, the count comes from your routes and dwell window, the same discipline our workplace charging program guide applies to staff fleets.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is one charger per vehicle wasteful?
Sometimes, and sometimes it is the cheapest honest answer: with nobody on site to rotate vehicles overnight, a point per vehicle is what makes the energy floor reachable. The waste is buying points for vehicles that need neither a full nightly charge nor a queue.
Can chargers be shared between the depot and visitors?
Physically yes, if access control (RFID or the platform) keeps fleet sessions identifiable. Operationally, a visitor on a fleet point at 7 p.m. is a van short at 6 a.m.; most fleets keep the two separate.
Should the count change as vehicles are replaced?
Re-run the energy total. Bigger batteries do not change the count by themselves; longer routes and shorter dwell do. The method stays the same, only the inputs move.
Related Reading
- Fleet Depot Charging: How to Size AC Chargers for Vans and Light Commercial Vehicles
- How to Plan a Workplace EV Charging Program
- How Do Commercial EV Charging Stations Work?
- What Is the Best Commercial EV Charging Station? How to Choose
