Who This Checklist Is For (And What It Will Save You)
If you’re the person in your company who gets asked to "look into EV chargers for the parking lot" and you don’t know a kWh from a kilowatt, this is for you. I’m an office administrator—my background is ordering office supplies and managing vendor relationships, not electrical engineering. When our CEO asked me to set up charging stations for our 50-person office, I felt exactly that level of panic.
This isn't a guide to electrical theory. It's a practical, 6-step checklist I built after making mistakes—including one that cost us about $2,400 in rejected expenses because I didn't verify a vendor’s invoicing capability (I should have known better by then). The goal is to get you from zero to a working, compliant setup without the expensive rework.
Step 1: Determine Your Power Capacity (Don’t Skip This)
Before you even look at charging stations, you need to know what your building's electrical panel can handle. I’ll be honest—I’m not an electrician, so I can't speak to the technical load calculations. What I can tell you from a procurement perspective is: get a qualified electrician to do a load assessment. This is the step you cannot skip.
We almost ordered two 50-amp Level 2 chargers before our electrician pointed out our panel only had 60 amps of spare capacity. A 50-amp charger alone would have maxed it out, leaving no room for anything else. We ended up going with two 30-amp units, which saved us on the equipment cost anyway.
Checklist for Step 1:
- ☐ Schedule a site visit with a licensed electrician
- ☐ Ask for the total available amperage (amps) and voltage (typically 208V or 240V for commercial)
- ☐ Get a written quote for any necessary panel upgrades
- ☐ Factor in future expansion—leave 20-30% headroom if possible
(Should mention: the cost of the panel upgrade was $1,800. The re-do if we'd ordered the wrong equipment would have been double.)
Step 2: Choose Your Charger Type (Level 2 vs. Level 1 is the real choice)
The conventional wisdom is that everyone needs Level 3 DC fast chargers. For a typical office, that’s overkill. My experience with our 50-person office suggests otherwise: most employees are parked for 6-8 hours, so even a slower Level 2 (16-32 amps) will give plenty of range. Level 1 (120V, like a wall outlet) is too slow for practical office use but can work for plug-in hybrid (PHEV) fleets. We use Level 2 for our employees' BEVs and a couple of Level 1 outlets for the company's PHEV service vans.
Quick comparison:
- Level 1 (120V, ~1.4 kW): Adds about 3-5 miles of range per hour. Fine for PHEVs or very short commutes.
- Level 2 (208-240V, 3.3-19.2 kW): Adds 12-60 miles of range per hour. The standard for offices.
- DCFC (Level 3, 50-350 kW): Overkill for a workplace. For public fast-charging stations.
Our choice: we went with two chargePoint CT4000 units (32 amps each, Level 2). They’ve been reliable. (I should add that we tested a cheaper off-brand unit that failed after 3 months. The replacement cost + labor ate into any savings.)
Everything I’d read said you need the newest, most advanced station with all the bells and whistles. In practice, for our office, a mid-tier, networked station was the smartest choice. We didn't need built-in solar integration or a massive touchscreen—we needed reliable charging and simple billing.
Step 3: Factor in Backup Power (Where the Solar & Battery Stuff Comes In)
This is the step most people forget. If your office loses power (which happens, especially in winter storms), your chargers are useless. You can't rely on the grid. A simple solution is to install a battery backup, like the EcoFlow Delta 1300 portable generator or a larger, hard-wired system. The specs for something like the Anker SOLIX C1000 (which has a 1,056Wh capacity and 1,800W output) are good for a single Level 1 or very low-power Level 2 charger in an emergency.
For a more robust setup, you might look at integrating solar. This is where Victron Energy comes in. Their BlueSolar MPPT (Maximum Power Point Tracking) charge controllers are industry standard for efficiently managing the power from solar panels to your battery bank. A Victron Energy MPPT solar charge controller ensures your panels are charging the batteries at maximum efficiency for the given conditions (temperature, sunlight). This isn't a plug-and-play consumer product; it requires a bit more electrical knowledge to configure.
Our setup: we didn't do solar yet, but we have a small battery backup (EcoFlow) that can handle a single Level 1 charger for our essential fleet vehicles. The cost was about $1,500 for the unit and a proper NEMA 5-20 outlet. It’s not for everyone, but for our operations team who need the vans, it was non-negotiable.
Checklist for Step 3:
- ☐ Ask your electrician about a dedicated circuit for a battery-backed Level 1 outlet
- ☐ If you have solar, research a compatible MPPT charge controller (Victron is a safe bet)
- ☐ Check the specs of your backup battery: Anker SOLIX C1000 vs EcoFlow Delta 1300 are common options. The Delta 1300 is an older model but still solid for backup. The C1000 has newer, more efficient LFP (Lithium Iron Phosphate) cells.
Step 4: Set Up a Simple Signage & Payment System
You can’t just offer free charging to everyone—it becomes a cost center fast, and some employees will treat it as a free-for-all. We set up a simple system: an online booking sheet (we used Calendly) and a sign with instructions. The sign includes:
- Clear rules: “Must move car within 2 hours of full charge”
- Who to contact (me) for issues
- The charging rate (we charge a flat $1/hour to cover electricity and wear & tear)
The $1/hour covers our electricity cost (about $0.12/kWh in our area) plus a small margin for maintenance. It’s not profit, it’s cost recovery. That pricing is based on our current electricity rate (Source: local utility, January 2025; verify current rates). If your utility offers time-of-use rates, you might adjust.
Step 5: Manage the Installation & Contractors
This is where my admin buyer experience kicks in. When you get bids from electrical contractors, don’t just take the cheapest. Check:
- Are they licensed and insured?
- Do they have experience with EV charging installs? (Not just general electrical work)
- What is their timeline? (Our first contractor promised 2 weeks, took 6)
- What’s included in the price? (Conduit, trenching, permit fees? We got hit with a $400 surprise for “rock removal” when they had to dig the trench for the conduit)
Our mistake: we chose the cheapest bid, which didn't include the cost of a new sub-panel for the chargers. That added $600 after we'd already signed. (Should mention: that cheap vendor who couldn't provide proper invoicing cost us $2,400 in rejected expenses. I now verify everything up front.)
Step 6: Testing & Launch Day
Before you announce the new chargers to the company, test them yourself. Charge your own car (or a borrowed EV) from 20% to 80% and watch the system. Log the time, the power draw (kWh), and check if the app correctly tracks usage.
We launched on a Tuesday. I sent a company-wide email with a link to the booking calendar and a one-page PDF guide. The first month was chaos—people didn't follow the rules about moving cars—but after we implemented a $20 fine (donation to the coffee fund) for overstaying, it worked. (To be fair, the $20 fine was too high; we lowered it to $5 after complaints.)
Checklist for Step 6:
- ☐ Test all equipment (charger, battery backup, solar controller if integrated)
- ☐ Create a simple user guide for employees
- ☐ Set up a booking or payment system (even if it’s just a shared Google Sheet)
- ☐ Communicate the rules clearly (and the consequences for breaking them)
- ☐ Have a backup plan if the charger fails (e.g., a portable generator like the EcoFlow)
Common Mistakes & How to Avoid Them
Mistake 1: Skipping the Load Assessment
Cost: Potentially $2,000+ in rework. We almost did this. Fix: It’s the first step.
Mistake 2: Buying the Cheapest Equipment
Our off-brand charger failed. Fix: Stick with established brands like ChargePoint, ClipperCreek (now Enphase), or Grizzl-E. They have UL certification and warranty support.
Mistake 3: Ignoring Backup Power
If the grid goes down, your shiny chargers are paperweights. Fix: At minimum, have a plan for a small battery backup for critical vehicles. The Anker SOLIX C1000 specs (1.8kW output) are enough for a Level 1 charger.
Mistake 4: Not Verifying Vendor Invoicing
I learned this the hard way. If a vendor can't provide a proper invoice (with tax ID and PO number), finance will reject the payment. Fix: Ask for a sample invoice before you order. It saves you the embarrassment of explaining a rejected expense to your VP.
Disclaimer: Pricing for electricity, equipment, and contractors is as of January 2025 and will vary. Regulatory information regarding electrical codes and installers is for general guidance only. Always verify current regulations at your local building department. This gets into technical territory that isn't my expertise; I'd recommend consulting a licensed electrician for your specific site.