What Is Required to Install EV Charging for a Workplace Car Park in New Zealand?

Quick answer

Installing EV charging in a New Zealand workplace car park requires a site inspection, confirmation of available electrical supply, a licensed electrician, and Type 2 universal chargers so any vehicle can use them. Where the supply is limited, load management allows more chargers to be installed without an infrastructure upgrade. Every non-residential site is inspected before a quote and feasibility report are issued.

The five step process

1. Enquiry. Provide the site details so the requirement can be assessed: number of parking bays, expected users, building type and location.
2. Consultation. The commercial team makes contact to work through the completed brief and confirm what the site needs.
3. Site inspection. A site visit confirms available supply, cable run distances and charger positions. This step is mandatory for non-residential sites.
4. Feasibility report and proposal. A report is produced outlining the approach to the installation, the works required and the costings for each option.
5. Installation. Once the quote is accepted, the installation is scheduled and completed by a licensed electrician.

The site inspection is the step that decides the price. Two workplace car parks with the same number of bays can differ by tens of thousands of dollars depending on what the inspection finds.

What the site inspection checks

• Available electrical capacity at the switchboard and whether an upgrade is required
• Whether the building has single phase or three phase supply
• Distance from the power source to each proposed charger location
• Whether excavation, trenching or cable trays are needed
• Charger positioning relative to parking bay layout and vehicle charge port locations
• How many chargers are needed now, and how many clusters the site should be built for

Electrical requirements

• A licensed and certified electrician must perform the installation, and must provide a written quote before any work starts
• A single phase connection with a capacity of 32 amps delivers 7.4 kW
• Where three phase power is available at the building, running it to the car park supports faster charging and newer vehicles with higher onboard charging capacity
• A Level 2 (Mode 3) charge point is the required standard for charging an electric vehicle under AS/NZS 3000
• EVSE chargers include internal DC leakage detection, which means a Type A RCBO can be used for protection
• Position chargers so the cable reaches the vehicle charge port comfortably, ideally within three metres

Choosing hardware for a workplace

The single most important hardware decision is the socket. A workplace charge point should be a universal charger with a Type 2 socket. A Type 2 socket allows any EV driver to charge regardless of their car or plug type, provided they carry the correct cable. That increases utilisation of the investment rather than limiting it to one section of the staff car park.

Most modern electric cars in New Zealand use a Type 2 plug, including Tesla. Older vehicles such as the first generation Nissan Leaf use Type 1.

Load management: more chargers on the same supply

Most workplace car parks do not have spare electrical capacity for every bay to draw full power at once. The default response is a supply upgrade, which is usually the largest single cost in a project.

Load management removes that requirement in many cases. It is used when the power needed by the charging stations exceeds the power available from the building supply, and it comes in three forms:

• Active load management dynamically adjusts charger power according to the power remaining in the building
• Static load management sets a fixed limit on charger power draw
• Scheduled load management allows sessions to be scheduled so the site can use off-peak tariffs

Load management is standard on EVSE commercial systems and does not carry an additional cost. In practice it means a site can install six chargers on a supply that would otherwise support two.

Billing and access control

A workplace with more than one charger needs a way to decide who can use them and whether staff are charged for the energy. Exploren, the OCPP platform EVSE uses, handles both. Access is controlled through RFID authentication or the app, and sessions can be billed per kWh or per minute, with private charging restricting the chargers to authorised staff only.

What drives the cost

The hardware is the predictable part. These variables are where quotes differ:

• Distance from the power source to the charger locations
• Any upgrade needed to the distribution board or switchboard
• Excavation and cable trays for runs across a car park
• The number of chargers and the number of charger clusters
• Whether the car park is at grade, underground or multi-level
• Whether the site is built for future expansion or only present demand

Building for future capacity during the first installation is cheaper than trenching the same car park twice.

After the installation

Workplace chargers are an operational asset, so plan for the operating years. EVSE hardware and installation come with a two year warranty where EVSE is at fault with the charger or the installation, with the option to extend. In-house technicians provide maintenance and support after handover, and the ChargeAssure programme covers ongoing reliability for sites that need guaranteed uptime.

Frequently asked questions

Do I need three phase power for workplace EV charging?

Not necessarily. A 32 amp single phase connection delivers 7.4 kW, which fully charges most vehicles across a working day. Three phase is worth using where it already exists at the building, or where bays need faster turnaround.

How long does a workplace installation take?

The timeline depends on the site inspection findings. Sites needing only cable runs and mounting are quick. Sites needing a switchboard upgrade or trenching take longer, which is why the inspection precedes the quote.

Can I install chargers without upgrading the building supply?

In many cases yes, using load management to keep total charger draw within available capacity. The site inspection confirms whether this is possible.

Can staff be billed for the electricity they use?

Yes. OCPP software applies a tariff per kWh or per minute, controls access by RFID, and records every session for cost recovery or reporting.

What warranty applies?

Hardware and installation come with a two year warranty where EVSE is at fault with the charger or the installation, with the option to extend.