Workplace Charging Employer Workshop Toolkit

Use these best practices for planning, organizing, and executing successful and educational workplace charging events. These materials, which can assist you in promoting workplace charging in your community, are based on lessons learned from more than 20 events held across the United States. For additional information, see the Alternative Fuels Data Center workplace charging page.

Event Objective and Messaging

Most workplace charging events fall into three major categories: stakeholder engagement, employer education, and employer recognition. While there may be overlap between the events, your first step should be to determine the objective of the event and the associated messaging.

Coalition events, such as a roundtables or meetings, can help create a regional direction for workplace charging, and get stakeholders—such as local governments, utilities, non-governmental organizations, or dealerships—on the same page about how workplace charging can contribute to plug-in electric vehicle (PEV) community readiness. It’s also a useful step to identify potential partners.

Events aimed at educating employers should, at an introductory level, inform attendees about the basics of PEVs, charging station technology, cost considerations, and the benefits of electric drive vehicles. These topics are covered on the Alternative Fuels Data Center Electricity pages. Attendees should depart with information and resources and a point of contact they can connect with to help explore the implementation of workplace charging at their organizations. Event organizers may also wish to issue a survey after the event has concluded.

Materials to support these events may include:

  • Sample Employee Survey for Workplace Charging Planning – Determine if workplace charging is right for an organization by gauging employee interest.

  • Managing Workplace Charging – Learn about how to manage workplace charging. Organizations offering workplace charging can benefit from setting clear guidelines in the areas of administration, registration and liability, sharing, and pricing to help ensure a safe and successful workplace charging experience.

  • PEV Outreach Resources for Employees - After installing PEV charging stations at the workplace, organizations will want to educate employees on how they can take advantage of this benefit. This collection of resources provides tools, tips, and networks to support employer efforts to engage PEV- and non-PEV driving employees alike.

Lastly, an event focused on recognizing employers who have committed to providing workplace charging can be a valuable tool in encouraging workplace charging in your region.

Event Partners, Sponsorship, and Hosts

Approximately 1,400 workplaces in the United States have installed charging stations according to the Station Locator. By hosting the event at a local employer who has implemented their own workplace charging program, you can provide a tangible example of workplace charging success, and in turn that organization is given an opportunity to promote their sustainability efforts. For organizations that pursue sponsorship, ensure they are recognized appropriately in event promotional materials and speaking opportunities. Charging station vendors, local dealerships, and automakers can be invited to exhibit in tabletop displays or ride-and-drive demonstrations. These opportunities can create an additional value for workshop participants.

Speakers and Agenda

Workshops aimed at educating employers about workplace charging have been most successful when held for 3–4 hours. A template agenda can be found below that allows adequate time for registration, vendor display, and a PEV ride and drive. Speakers may cover the importance of PEVs to the local region as well as community readiness successes to date, fundamental information on PEV and charging station technology, considerations for working with local utilities, a first-hand PEV driver experience, the need for and benefits of workplace charging, and a variety of employer experiences. Invite local employers who have implemented their own workplace charging programs to speak about program details, such as number of charging stations, PEV adoption as a result, electricity costs, and lessons learned.

Invitations

The target audience for workplace charging education is usually sustainability managers, facilities managers, transportation planners, human resources, and others who are interested in learning more about providing PEV charging stations for their organization’s employees. Previous workshop organizers found that issuing an invitation to potential attendees 1-2 months in advance of the event yielded the greatest number of participants. By engaging existing networks, such as the local chamber of commerce, regional council and metropolitan, or transportation planning organizations, the quality of attendance can be increased.

Employer Workshop Materials

Example Workplace Charging Events

This section provides links to previous successful workplace charging events. These link directly to the organization's websites and contain their own event agendas and presentation materials.

Workplace Charging Employer Workshop Best Practices Webinar

Through this recorded webinar, learn about the real experiences of four event hosts and how they planned, organized, and administered successful workplace charging events. The webinar text is also available.