With a growing number of electric vehicles (EVs) on the road, hospitals and other healthcare facilities are increasingly obliged to provide EV charging. In doing so, however, they are not only providing a service from which they can earn additional revenue, but are also helping to improve their environmental performance and reduce their carbon footprint. Reporting and measuring emissions is a legal requirement from within a business and its wider supply chain. Obtaining this information is no easy task and often lies outside of a facility’s operational reach, but sits firmly within their environmental remit and responsibility.

Reporting and measuring Scope 3 emissions, including all travel and transportation of staff and visitors, as well as the distribution of business goods and services, is a particular challenge for operations and facilities managers alike. It requires considerable time, expertise and resources to be sourced and spent on navigating a new and evolving regulatory requirement. The financial and practical requirements of installing EV charge points are also a challenge. For while they may be desirable, when a facility is located in a rural or historic area, for example, the practical considerations are many. And that’s before anyone starts talking about cost. This is where the private sector has a critical role to play.

PLACING PRIORITY ON PARTNERSHIPS

Partnering with a charge point operator  (CPO) like Believ supports healthcare facilities and service providers in reducing their Scope 3 emissions, without a significant impact on time, resource or budget. Believ’s end-to end solution will take responsibility for the planning, installation and delivery of charge points, through to its ongoing maintenance and operation – leaving facilities and operations managers to do what they do best. CPOs can also address the practicality of charge points, as they have the expertise and experience to specify and manage a charging solution that considers the local environment and the operational needs of the organisation. It is in their best interests to ensure that even rural facilities, including those with legacy issues such as finding access to sufficient power supplies, receive a bespoke solution. Charge points should be designed and developed based on a site’s physical environment and power supplies, as well as being mapped to predicted use and matched to an understanding of the charging behaviours of visitors and staff. Crucially, this ensures that the right speeds of charge points are installed in the right locations. Where a visitor parking bay may be best suited to a rapid charger, for example, a staff parking bay may be a better suited for a slower charger, due to the difference in time spent on the site. These considerations are taken into account, with recommendations made on the correct hardware and equipment design for each location, regardless of technology or manufacturer.

FULLY FUNDED

In a period of inflated operational and energy costs, some healthcare facilities may question whether now is the right time to invest in EV charging point infrastructure. Is it too expensive? Will charge points be used enough to warrant the financial outlay? CPOs like Believ answer these questions, offering a fully funded solution, one that removes the financial burden that facilities expect to carry when considering charge point installations. Not only does an organisation not have to invest capital upfront, but it can also rely on its CPO partner to help operations and facilities managers create a compelling business case that’s based on a bespoke host renumeration package. Detailed reporting is made available to charge point hosts, with statistics showing the volume of KwH supplied, the amount of carbon offset and the period of time each charge point was in use. These figures help provide businesses with confidence that hosting EV infrastructure is a worthwhile and cost-effective investment, and not just a convenient box-ticking exercise.It’s worth noting too that a CPO will only earn its investment back if the charging infrastructure is being used. In this context, it is in their interest to ensure that charge points are not only reliable but operational. The fully funded model actively promotes an ‘always on’ charging culture that optimises hardware uptime – a critical component in helping the nation and the sector to transition towards sustainable modes of transport.

CLEANER AIR FOR ALL

Encouraging and facilitating sustainable modes of transport, particularly in the healthcare sector, can only be considered a good thing. Just as the sector promotes how to live a healthy, productive and positive lifestyle, so too must it promote a healthy environment. Indeed, reducing emissions could rightfully be considered a form of preventative care in years to come, particularly where they are localised in areas of high population or around medical or educational facilities that house vulnerable people. In the not-too-distant future, all businesses and stakeholders will rely on sustainable transport as we edge ever closer to the government ban on new petrol and diesel engine vehicles. Getting ahead of the curve and installing charge points helps a facility to support patients looking to charge while they are receiving treatment or visiting loved ones – taking one of their stresses away. They also help support members of staff who may be considering transitioning to an electric future. Some may see the provision of EV charging as adding to the resident, visitor and staff experience. Others may see it as a revenue-driving opportunity. But partnering with a CPO not only accommodates both schools of thought, it can also help a site to further its sustainability goals and ESG commitments too. In doing so, you join us in our efforts to accelerate the decarbonisation of transport in the UK and deliver cleaner air for all.

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