EV Champion: APCOA UK

British Parking Awards 2023

Design for APCOA`s Urban Mobility Hub in Carmarthen

Design for APCOA`s Urban Mobility Hub in Carmarthen

Compleo chargers installed by APCOA at the Network Rail car park in Reading

Compleo chargers installed by APCOA at the Network Rail car park in Reading

APCOA Parking is making the transition from being an operator of parking spaces to being a provider of mobility and electric vehicle charging services.

APCOA is one of Europe’s largest parking services providers, operating more than 1.5 million spaces at 9,500 locations across 13 countries. The company has made a Europe-wide commitment to achieve net zero by 2030. Investment in EV infrastructure to meet the EV charging needs of electric vehicle drivers is now a critical part of APCOA’s business model.

The group has set a goal of installing 10,000 chargepoints in the UK by 2025, both on-street and off-street. APCOA has made a long-term commitment to look after the entire contract life of the chargepoints rather than just the initial installation. This means APCOA is now working as both a CPO (chargepoint operator) and an MSP (mobility service provider).

APCOA has also appointed a dedicated director of EV partnerships and energy infrastructure, Mark Trumper.

To date APCOA has deployed over 1,000 EV chargers (Fast, Rapid and Ultra Rapids) across retail, hospitality, health, rail and airports. Key sites include Maidstone Borough Council, Network Rail, NHS Royal Stoke University Hospital, Q Hotels and New River Retail and London Borough of Bromley, as well as at its first Urban Mobility Hub location in Carmarthen in Wales.

Projects are run in strict compliance with APCOA’s Health & Safety Policy and ISO 45001 standards alongside the current CDM regulations. This sees APCOA appoint a single responsible person for any EV project compliance. This includes the production and approval of the H&S file with relevant Risk Assessments and Method Statement for each site location (RAMS).

APCOA can now generate report activity on electricity utilisation (kWh), numbers and types of transactions through APCOA Analytics. This is the company’s interactive business intelligence tool, accessed through Microsoft Power BI, from which it is able to self-serve and access reports and interactive dashboards. It provides information in real-time, with the ability to fully customise, making collaborating and sharing simple.

Members of the public requiring help on a range of issues from practical help on chargepoint operation, payment issues, or technical help can contact APCOA’s National Customer Service Centre (NCSC) with offices in Wigan and Dingwall. The NCSC has a team of 90-plus agents and is operational 24/7/365 managing customer enquiries relating to EV chargepoints across the UK and other car park related enquiries.

The company has developed three distinct means of payments: for parking and EV charging:

• Registered user payment via APCOA Connect: used in over 1,400 car parks in the UK with over 5 million registered users
• Payment via ScanPay: a QR-based payment solution
• Contactless payments: an add-on module.

Network Rail

APCOA has managed station parking for Network Rail since 2014, but in January 2023 a new partnership agreement was finalised, combining Network Rail’s prime site infrastructure with APCOA’s management expertise, dedicated customer service resource and market leading technological capability.

The partnership currently encompasses 462 EV charging points across six Network Rail sites with a one strategy, one system approach which fully supports the sustainability goals of both industries and facilitates the extensive use of EV charging facilities at these rail stations.

Lewis Smith, head of national contracts and business development at Network Rail, says: “APCOA has demonstrated strong technological developments and improvements, operational and cost saving efficiencies, whilst not detracting from the customer service and operational and financial performance. APCOA has also helped Network Rail improve car park assets across the estate, with strong multi-contractor specialisms and support.”

Urban Mobility Hubs

Designed around a convenient central location, accessible to the public and able to offer a variety of services all in one place, hubs are ideal sites at which to display local information and switch from one mode of transport to another. Urban Hubs contribute significantly to APCOA’s ongoing commitment to sustainability whilst tailored services ensure that these prime sites offer more value to the local community.

Alongside other customer centric facilities such as vending, pre-bookable office pods, bike charging and storage, APCOA’s Carmarthen Urban Mobility Hub also delivered a total of 17 new EV charging points for the 200,000 residents of the town and for those visiting.

The Tesla chargers required the installation of an additional electrical substation, for which planning applications were required – all managed and overseen by APCOA as part of the contract. The site boasts five 22kw AC fast chargers supplied by Compleo, and 12 V3 Tesla Superchargers, capable of delivering peak charge rates up to 250kW.

Kim Challis, regional managing director for APCOA UK & Ireland, says: “APCOA is extremely proud to have won the ‘EV Champion of the Year’ award at the British Parking Awards. This award is presented to an organisation which has had a significant impact on progressing the transition to EV driving in the UK and it represents meaningful recognition for APCOA, for whom sustainability and the commitment to accelerating electrification are key drivers of the business strategy.

“We are really delighted that APCOA’s EV strategy has received such positive recognition as we continue to deliver our plan to achieve the ambitious goal of installing 10,000 chargepoints in the UK (on-street and off-street) by 2025.”