Commercial EV Charging Stations

Electric vehicle adoption in Florida is accelerating rapidly, and the Tampa Bay area is at the center of this growth. With EV registrations in Florida increasing by over 40 percent year-over-year and major automakers committing to electric lineups, businesses that install EV charging infrastructure now position themselves ahead of the curve. Employees, customers, tenants, and fleet operators increasingly expect convenient access to charging, and properties without it risk losing competitive advantage.

For commercial property owners, EV charging stations add tangible value. Properties with charging infrastructure command higher lease rates, attract and retain quality tenants, and appeal to environmentally conscious customers. Retail businesses report that EV drivers spend more time and money at locations where they can charge their vehicles while shopping or dining. Employers offering workplace charging see improved employee satisfaction and retention, particularly among younger workers who prioritize sustainability.

The federal government and State of Florida are investing billions in EV infrastructure through the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) program and complementary state initiatives. These investments are expanding the charging network along Florida highways and corridors, but the majority of EV charging still happens at workplaces, homes, and commercial destinations. Installing commercial charging infrastructure at your Tampa Bay property ensures you capture this demand.

As commercial fleet operators transition to electric vehicles, depot charging infrastructure becomes a critical operational asset. Whether you operate delivery vans, service trucks, shuttle buses, or light-duty fleet vehicles, Ranch and Coast Electric designs and builds fleet charging depots that meet the unique demands of commercial fleet operations in the Tampa Bay area.

Fleet charging differs from public or workplace charging in several important ways. Fleet vehicles typically follow predictable schedules, returning to the depot at known times and departing at set times, which allows for optimized charging schedules that take advantage of lower off-peak electricity rates from Duke Energy and TECO. Fleet charging systems must also integrate with fleet management software to track vehicle state-of-charge, prioritize vehicles that need to depart soonest, and provide energy cost reporting per vehicle.

Large fleet deployments require careful electrical planning to avoid demand charges, which are a significant portion of commercial electricity bills in Florida. Demand charges are based on your peak 15-minute or 30-minute power draw during the billing period, and charging an entire fleet simultaneously can create extreme demand spikes. Our fleet charging designs incorporate load management, staggered charging schedules, and in some cases battery energy storage systems to flatten demand peaks and reduce monthly electricity costs. The result is a fleet charging system that meets your operational needs while controlling total cost of ownership.

One of the biggest challenges in commercial EV charging deployment is managing the electrical load. Without intelligent load management, each Level 2 charging station could draw 30 to 80 amps simultaneously, and a deployment of even 10 stations could require 300 to 800 amps of dedicated electrical capacity. This level of electrical infrastructure is expensive to install and may exceed the available capacity of your existing utility service.

Smart load management solves this problem by dynamically allocating available power across all connected charging stations based on real-time demand, vehicle needs, and facility power availability. When your building's HVAC system cycles on and draws significant power, the load management system automatically reduces charging speeds to stay within your total capacity limit. When building loads decrease, charging speeds increase. This approach allows you to install significantly more charging stations than your electrical capacity would otherwise support, because not all vehicles need maximum charging speed simultaneously.

Advanced load management platforms can also integrate with building energy management systems, utility demand response programs, and time-of-use rate schedules to optimize charging for the lowest possible energy cost. For fleet operations, priority-based charging ensures vehicles with the earliest departure times receive power first. Ranch and Coast Electric designs every commercial EV charging installation with appropriate load management to balance performance, cost, and scalability.