Fleet charging planning: public chargers near depots and routes

Planning charging for a fleet comes down to three questions per depot: how much can you charge on site, which public fast chargers can drivers reach quickly when that is not enough, and will the roads to those chargers be jammed at the hours drivers would use them. The first is a question for your landlord and electricians. The second and third can be answered from data: count the fast and ultra-fast public stations within a short drive of each depot, then check live road speeds around them at the start and end of shifts. Depots that do well on both are the ones to switch first.

This article is for fleet and operations managers at couriers, service companies, car-sharing and taxi operators, and the energy and charging companies selling to them. It sets out what the data covers, a sequence for ranking depots, an example from Montreal and Bengaluru, the common mistakes, and an AI employee that keeps the picture current as new stations open.

What the data can tell you

The EV charging block reads a public register of charging stations, filled in by charging networks, governments and drivers. Around each depot it can give you the number of stations and charge points within a distance from 500 m to 10 km, how many are fast (50 kW or more), the highest power nearby, the nearest station and how far it is, and the main operators. Or it can list the stations themselves, each with its connectors, highest power, status and when that status was last confirmed. You can limit it to stations reaching 50 kW or 150 kW.

Traffic Flow adds the live picture: the current speed on the roads around a place, the speed when they are free, a jam factor from 0 to 10, and how many roads are closed. It is measured when the flow runs, so you schedule it for the hours that matter. It does not count vehicles.

Ranking depots, step by step

1. List every depot or overnight parking site, with how many vehicles it holds and the hours shifts start and end.
2. Decide what counts as easy reach. A circle of 3 to 5 km is a fair start; a Travel area of 10 or 15 minutes by car follows the real roads and is fairer near rivers and motorways.
3. Count fast stations (50 kW and above) within that reach, and note the nearest one and its distance.
4. Check road speeds around the depot and its nearest fast station at shift change, for example weekdays at 07:00 and 18:00.
5. Rank depots by fast stations in reach, then break ties on how free the roads are at shift change.
6. Pilot electric vehicles at the top two or three depots before rolling out.

An example: two depots, two pictures

A made-up case. A home-services company runs vans from a depot in Montreal and one in Bengaluru and wants to know where to start its electric pilot. Within a 10-minute drive of each, with Traffic Flow measured at 18:00 on a weekday, suppose it sees (invented for illustration):

Invented figures for illustration; not real figures for either city.

Montreal is the clear first pilot: several fast stations close by and roads that move at shift change. In Bengaluru, a van topping up at the end of the day would spend a long time reaching the nearest fast charger through heavy traffic. That does not rule the depot out; it says charging there should be planned on site, or at a station along the vans' routes rather than near the depot.

Mistakes to avoid

• Counting all chargers. Slow chargers suit cars parked for hours, not vans that need a top-up between jobs. Filter by power.
• Trusting a status blindly. A station's status is as last reported; check last_verified, and treat old confirmations with care.
• Measuring traffic at noon. Drivers charge at the start and end of shifts. Schedule Traffic Flow then.
• Assuming public chargers are free when you need them. The data says a station exists and how powerful it is, not whether it is busy. Plan headroom.
• Ignoring the register's gaps. A thin count in a country with patchy listings is not proof of a gap.
• Treating one run as the plan. New stations open often. Keep watching.

An AI employee that watches charging around your depots

1. Start with Schedule, every weekday at the shift change you care about.
2. Bring in your depots with My data.
3. Add EV charging: Each incoming place with counts, within 5 km, power 50 kW or more.
4. Add Traffic Flow within 1 km of each depot.
5. Add Sort and limit on ev_fast_stations, most first, and Show on a map.
6. Send it by Email. In the inbox: each depot with its fast stations in reach, the nearest one and its distance, the main operators, the speed and jam factor at shift change, and a map.

For a weekly note of new stations near depots, build a second flow with EV charging set to the stations found and Only new after it, so each new station reaches you once.