City West chooses Elmtronics as their charging partner
Added: 20 July 2021
As the truck and van market moves towards an electrified future, Mercedes-Benz dealership, City West Commercials, required a future-proofed charging infrastructure which continued their commitment to sustained investment into their business. Elmtronics were on hand to find the right solution for the company and their new vehicle range.
The first dedicated Mercedes-Benz truck sales and truck and van aftersales dealer in the South West, City West Commercials, pride themselves in offering the best in customer service.
With the rapid growth of the electric vehicle market, City West has as a result invested heavily in its new EV infrastructure with on-site charging points. The new infrastructure will support the company’s EV maintenance and aftercare provision for its expanding new EV customer base. The charge points installed at City West will provide a post-service facility for customers.
With little previous knowledge of charging infrastructure, the company turned to Elmtronics for our advice on the best equipment – both for now and in the future.
The company has dealerships strategically placed along the M5 from Bristol to Cornwall and needed advice on the required type and number of charge points at each location. As part of our scoping process, Elmtronics reviewed each site, taking into account the vehicles’ charging profiles alongside the potential demand based on when the vehicles would need to be charged.
Our solution was, to begin with, a small number of charge points at each of their South West locations with the potential to expand as the number of vehicles increased. 22kW charge points were recommended which have the ability to fully charge a van, such as the eSprinter, in around eight hours – more than adequate to meet their needs.
With workshop facilities at each of the sites, drawing large amounts of power throughout the day, we chose to install load-balanced charge points. This allows the business to get the maximum efficiency from their charge points without compromising on the power to each building or requiring investment into power upgrades.
“This was our first experience of investigating EV charging solutions and I was really impressed by the knowledge of the team at Elmtronics. The electric vehicles that we have will need the most advanced charging technology and it was critical for us that we got the best advice on charging types.
The continuation of sustained investment to the business is one of my key priorities and working with Elmtronics has helped us to deliver against our commitment – not just today but as our range of vehicles grow in the future.” – Darren Sweet, City West Commercials Dealer Principal
The charge points are connected to Elmtronics’ back-office management software, Hubsta, which will provide the team with visibility on demand and how often and for how long each charge point is used. This will help the team to identify when additional charge points will be required as well as providing information on energy costs and CO2 saved.
“It has been a pleasure to work with Darren and his team. I understand the environment that the vehicles operate within and know how important it was for them to trust the charging infrastructure. City West Commercials are renowned for their great customer service and it makes me very proud to have played a part in making sure these excellent levels remain consistent.” – Natasha Fry, Elmtronics Associate Consultant