EV-Ready Charging Infrastructure for Property Developers
Charging installed during construction costs a fraction of charging retrofitted afterwards, and the difference is almost entirely civil work.
That makes the decision less about how many charge points to install and more about how much infrastructure to lay while the ground is open, which is a different and much cheaper question.
Design charging into a developmentFor Property developer, housebuilder
Infrastructure and charge points are separate decisions
Containment, cable capacity and distribution are disruptive and expensive to retrofit. Charge points are comparatively cheap and quick to add later. Sizing the first for the eventual position while populating the second incrementally is almost always the right shape.
Design for the end state, not for handover day
Adoption climbs steadily and does not reverse. A development wired for the demand at completion will need revisiting within a few years, and by then the car park is finished and occupied.
The supply constraint is the real limit
Residential buildings rarely have spare capacity sized for vehicle charging. Managed charging is what makes a meaningful point count possible without a supply upgrade someone has to fund, and it should be designed in rather than added later.
Assigned or unassigned parking changes the model
Where bays belong to units, points can be private and billed to that occupant. Where parking is unassigned, points are shared and need authorisation, per-session billing and rules about occupancy after charging. Establish which applies before designing.
Hand over an operating model, not just equipment
A development handed over with charge points and no named operator, billing arrangement or maintenance owner produces disused equipment within a year. That is a reputational outcome attached to your building.
Two decisions that are expensive to reverse
Everything about charging in a new building is easy to change except the two things that get decided first, usually by default.
- 1
The supply basis
Sized for simultaneous full-rate charging, the connection and switchgear grow considerably. Sized for scheduled charging across the overnight hours, they often do not. Apartments show the highest utilisation of any AC site we operate and almost all of it is overnight, which means it is almost all schedulable. Deciding this after the substation is specified is not a decision, it is a rebuild.
- 2
Connectivity in the parking levels
Basement and podium parking is where mobile signal disappears. A charging system that needs a backend to authorise each session will fail there intermittently, and residents will report it as unreliable equipment. Specify local operation that works with no internet, or provide coverage. Retrofitting either is disruptive.
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Design charging into a developmentTechnically reviewed by Deepu Joy, Director of Products and Delivery. Last reviewed 2026-09-01.
Frequently asked questions
How many charge points should a new development have?
Fewer than the infrastructure supports. Size containment and distribution for the eventual position and populate points as demand arrives, so the civil work is done once.
What is most expensive to retrofit?
Containment and distribution, because the ground and the structure are finished. Charge points themselves are comparatively easy to add.
Do we need a supply upgrade?
Frequently not, if charging is managed. Managed charging is what makes a meaningful point count fit within an existing connection.
Who operates it after handover?
That needs naming before handover. Equipment with no operator, billing arrangement or maintenance owner falls out of use quickly.
Design charging into a development
Tell us the scheme, the parking arrangement and the supply position, and we will size it for where it ends up.
Design charging into a development