e.park: Exclusive Clenergy EV Partnership Helps Win Customers For Low-Maintenance EV Installing

Having originally begun installing EV charge points back in 2019, Anthony founded e.park off the back of his successful manufacturing business Frocester Engineering, driven by a commitment to turn his passion for the delivery of a green transport infrastructure into a viable business venture. At the time, this made e.Park one of the earliest EV charge point installers in the UK, entering the market when the number of EVs on the roads was 12x lower than its current figure, with just 2.2 million units registered worldwide.

But despite the industry’s infancy, Anthony saw the early potential of the industry, offering the ability to diversify revenue streams in what he correctly saw as a fast-emerging growth market.

It was at this early stage that Anthony realised that to stand out from competitors, e.park needed to build a reputation for providing excellent customer service beyond the initial point of install. This led him to consider software partnerships, choosing Clenergy EV as a smart charging management solution able to help customers best manage and utilise their investments. 

According to Anthony:

“It was all well and good getting charge points in the ground,” Anthony states, “but without installing them onto software, our customers would be left able to get a basic charge…and that’s pretty much it.

e.park has completed installations for a wide variety of clients in need of EV infrastructure, from retirement homes and other residential areas to individual at-home charging stations. But across this customer base, Anthony identified providing customers with a reliable management system was central to his customer’s experience:

“Using software, commercial organisations have been able to drive changes in employee charging habits to make better use of cheaper off-peak tariffs, saving huge amounts in long-term running costs. And residential customers can do the same, with charge scheduling for these cheaper times meaning customers will be able to save money while they sleep.”

“Besides that, customers need software to do simple things like set tariffs for the public to use their charge points - or lock others out for private use. And with the new Government guidelines on all public-facing chargers coming in meaning operators need to provide 99% charger uptime and a 24/7 customer helpline, onboarding our customers with a software provider was an absolute must.”

Will David, Clenergy EV CEO, noted the importance of software partnerships for operators needing to remain in compliance with these guidelines:

“Most operators simply don’t have the resources to man their own customer service line, or perform manual maintenance call-outs to make sure chargers are running as intended. By installing customers onto partnered software providers at the initial point of install, EV installers can focus on revenue-generating installs without compromising the customer experience.” 

After purchasing his first electric vehicle in 2017, the move from a manufacturing and engineering background was simple for Anthony:

“Through my engineering company, I was already working with subcontractors regularly.”

“We sent these contractors out on a few courses; EO Mini and Genius; Raw Charging, and attended the online training courses for specific chargers like Easee, Wallbox and others.”

“After that, we were good to go,” Anthony added. “But to be honest, installations are made simple enough with the Clenergy EV software that I tend to do most of the installations myself now.”

According to Anthony, the same was the case in becoming OZEV-approved:

“All it took after the training was filling in the required documents as per the guidelines available on the Government page, and we were up and running.”

From there, e.park became a part of the Government-approved database used to recommend certified installers to those looking to get charge points in the ground.

On top of this potential to gain new customers through the rapid rate of EV adoption, e.park also found there were opportunities to perform multiple installs for a single client.

“We’ve found ourselves needing to future-proof installations in some cases, knowing that customers will be looking to scale up their charging network to meet demand just a short time after the initial installation.”

“In one case, we began our installs with four chargers on the Clenergy EV platform, and found ourselves installing another six at the same site just three months later, and have made further installs since.”

“With the chargers onboarded with a single software provider that’s able to work across a huge range of compatible chargers, we could do this without causing any disruption for the client.”