Free commercial planning guide
Commercial EV and fleet charging site-readiness checklist
A successful charging project starts with vehicles and operating schedules, then works backward through electrical capacity, parking, networking, permits, ownership, and future expansion. Use this checklist before equipment is ordered or construction dates are promised.
Define the charging operation
- List current and planned vehicles, battery sizes, daily mileage, arrival times, departure deadlines, and dwell time
- Separate employee, customer, tenant, public, delivery, service, and overnight fleet charging needs
- Decide whether charging is an amenity, an operational requirement, a paid service, or a mix
- Identify vehicles that must be ready first and whether chargers can share available power
- Forecast the next phase so conduit, panels, networking, and parking work do not have to be repeated
Evaluate electrical capacity
- Document service voltage, phase, rating, utility account, main equipment, transformers, panels, and available physical space
- Complete a load evaluation instead of assuming empty breaker positions equal capacity
- Compare full-output charging with managed charging, scheduled charging, and lower-output options
- Review feeder routes, conductor distance, voltage drop, grounding, surge protection, fault-current requirements, and equipment ratings
- Identify generator or backup-power expectations without assuming ordinary standby systems can support the charging load
Plan parking and construction
- Measure charger locations, parking dimensions, accessible routes, bollards, wheel stops, curbs, islands, walls, and equipment clearances
- Map trenching, boring, saw-cutting, overhead routing, restoration, drainage, irrigation, landscaping, and traffic-control impacts
- Protect equipment from vehicle contact, flooding, direct irrigation, coastal exposure, and unauthorized access
- Coordinate signage, striping, lighting, accessibility, fire lanes, delivery routes, and future parking changes
- Confirm who owns the property and obtain landlord, association, or utility easement approval when required
Select controls and ownership
- Choose networked or non-networked chargers based on access control, reporting, pricing, uptime, and support needs
- Confirm cellular or Wi-Fi coverage, software fees, payment processing, warranties, replacement parts, and service response
- Define who creates users, sets pricing, handles driver support, monitors faults, and authorizes repairs
- Decide how energy use will be allocated among departments, tenants, employees, customers, or fleet vehicles
- Create an inspection and maintenance record for chargers, cords, connectors, protective devices, signs, and barriers
Coordinate approvals and turnover
- Confirm permitting authority, adopted requirements, product documentation, drawings, inspections, and utility review
- Check current utility programs and incentives directly; availability and rules can change
- Build lead time for utility upgrades, switchgear, transformers, chargers, networking, concrete, and striping
- Plan shutdowns and construction around employees, tenants, customers, deliveries, and fleet operations
- Require testing, labeling, as-built records, owner training, warranty information, and an expansion plan at turnover
Plan the charging system before buying the chargers
Bolt Electric evaluates commercial electrical capacity and installs EV charging infrastructure for workplaces, fleets, multifamily properties, retail sites, and facilities across Jacksonville and Northeast Florida.