Paul Ford, Chief Development Officer at BVRLA associate member and public EV charging solutions provider Zest, considers why fleet insight should play a central role in shaping public charging infrastructure. Drawing on Zest’s experience, he explores how early collaboration between fleets, charge point operators and local authorities can help ensure new infrastructure reflects real-world operational needs.
As fleets accelerate their transition to electric vehicles, one thing is becoming increasingly clear to us at Zest: delivering successful charging infrastructure isn’t simply a question of installing more charge points. It’s about creating the right infrastructure, in the right places, for the fleets and drivers who rely on it every day.
The transition to electric presents fleet operators with a unique set of operational challenges. Public charging locations aren’t always designed with larger vans or vehicles towing trailers in mind. Depot charging isn’t an option for every business because of space or grid constraints. Drivers can lose valuable time searching for suitable charging locations, rather than charging when it best fits their operations. These are complex challenges, and they won’t be solved by any one organisation alone.
That’s why collaboration must sit at the heart of the next phase of public charging. When organisations bring together their different expertise, they can create solutions that no single organisation could deliver alone.
Fleet operators understand the realities of day-to-day operations. Charge point operators understand how to deliver infrastructure at scale. Local authorities understand the communities they serve. No single perspective is complete on its own, but together they create a much clearer picture of what good infrastructure looks like. Fleet insight therefore needs to be part of the conversation from the outset.
As Zest continues to develop charging hubs across the UK, we're committed to working with the drivers and industries that our chargers will serve. In Brent, we saw the value of this approach first-hand. Working alongside Uber and Brent Council, we engaged directly with Uber drivers and local residents to better understand where charging infrastructure was needed most. Those conversations helped identify where drivers were actually looking to charge and what would work for the local community, helping to shape the facilities around genuine demand rather than assumptions. The resulting charging facilities meet local needs and continue to see strong utilisation.
This approach has relevance far beyond taxi and private hire. Fleet operators understand their vehicles, routes and operational pressures better than anyone, and that knowledge can help inform where and how charging infrastructure is developed. The most effective charging hubs will reflect operational reality: where vehicles naturally stop, how long they dwell, what types of vehicles they serve and the practical constraints they face.
This is where charge point operators have an important role to play. Beyond delivering infrastructure, we can help facilitate the conversations needed to develop charging solutions around how fleets actually operate.
That means creating more opportunities for meaningful engagement with fleets and other stakeholders, not as a box-ticking exercise, but as a way of making better decisions. For fleets, this means sharing insight into routes, vehicle types, dwell times and charging requirements early in the planning process, helping charge point operators and local authorities understand where infrastructure could have the greatest operational value. These conversations won’t remove every constraint - grid capacity, planning processes and land availability will continue to shape what is possible - but they can help ensure investment is directed where it can make the greatest difference.
As the UK’s charging network continues to expand, the challenge isn’t simply increasing the number of charge points. It’s making sure infrastructure evolves in step with the people who depend on it. That means listening earlier, collaborating more openly and using real-world insight to make better decisions about where and how infrastructure is delivered.
The best charging infrastructure won’t be built around assumptions. It will be shaped by the people who use it.
