Charge Of The Electric Brigade On-site charging is a win, win situation for holiday destinations…
Ladram Bay has upped the stakes in its bid to become one of the UK’s most sustainable holiday parks where guests can enjoy their stays with a clear conscience. Recently, the Devon park spent around £300,000 on a state of- the-art solar energy system across various buildings in its grounds.
The move will be preventing a massive 171 tonnes of carbon dioxide annually from entering the atmosphere. The family-run holiday destination, winner of a David Bellamy Conservation Award, has also swapped two more of its fossil fuel vehicles in favour of the latest green technology.
It brings to five the number of electric run-arounds in use at Ladram Bay in Budleigh Salterton, and at its sister-park Castle Brake in Woodbury, near Exeter, where multiple charging points are installed so that customers don’t suffer from ‘range anxiety’ during their stays. “Our team need to make a lot of stop-start journeys around Ladram Bay and Castle Brake, and this isn’t an efficient use of petrol and diesel vehicles,” says Ladram Bay director Zoe House, whose family has owned the park since 1943. “We were also concerned about the noise they created, and the effect of the engine emissions on our wildlife as well as the atmosphere generally. “Electric vehicles are a perfect solution as they are nonpolluting and much quieter – something which I’m sure our guests who enjoy a lie-in will appreciate!” added Zoe.
ABOVE: Ladram Bay has increased its fleet of environmentally-friendly
of electric vehicles.
ABOVE: Holiday park guests are satisfied with charging their vehicles on-site, while network operators benefit from an additional revenue stream.
GOVERNMENT POLICY
The UK government has brought forward its intention to end the sale of new combustion engine-powered cars and vans to 2035, fuelling concerns about the future of the automotive industry and the UK’s readiness for the advent of electric vehicles.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson recently announced his decision to advance the government’s 2040 target for petrol, diesel and hybrid vehicle sales. The policy was disclosed as the government prepares to withdraw its plug-in car grant in March.
This had supported electric car sales growth and provided customers with as much as £3,500 to purchase low-emission vehicles. Knowing that for holiday operators, revenue can be generated by simply providing a power supply to the charge point location, should encourage operators to electrify their sites.
With this in mind, specialist suppliers to the holiday park sector, Rolec has also recently launched its new electric vehicle charging back office system, EV Charge. Online that enables operators to manage and monitor their customer’s/employees’ charging behaviour via a web enabled device. “Year on year, the uptake of electric vehicles increases and because of this, the demand for EV charging also increases,” advises Head of EV Charging at Rolec Services, Frankie Mellon.
“With more and more EVs on the road, EV drivers are conscious about whether their chosen destinations are equipped with charging facilities to cater for their requirements. “As a result, we are witnessing a proliferation in leisure and hospitality venues offering their visitors the ability to recharge, providing EV drivers with peace of mind,” Frankie adds.
ABOVE: Rolec Services operate a new nationwide electrical hook-up installation network. 
ABOVE: All bases are covered by Rolec who aim to underline their position
as the UK’s leading hook-up specialists
JOURNEY PLANS
EV drivers now plan their visits and journeys around EV charging; if a destination offers EV charging, the driver is more likely to visit that particular location as opposed to destinations that lack charging facilities.
Frankie says: “We will 100% witness more and more destinations offer EV charging to their customers. “It’s a no brainer. Whilst customers are satisfied with charging their vehicles on-site, network operators will benefit from an additional revenue stream, boosting overall income.”
The return on investment is down to the network operator, they have the capability of changing and controlling their fees to various groups of EV drivers. Some have stated that they have generated the costs back in just one year. It is also worth noting that caravan and holiday parks are eligible for up to £10,000 of OLEV grant funding which is a great method of offsetting the costs of the purchase and installation of the EV charging points. Caravan and holiday parks only require a single phase electricity supply and mobile phone signal to start their EV charging roll out.
It is a win, win situation for operators. “The EV market is increasing at rates like never before, incentives such as the 0% BiK tax rate will only heighten the demand for charging infrastructure, therefore those who act now and offer EV charging to their customers are in a prime position,” explains Frankie.
“Added benefits also include: positions the destination on the map as offering EV charging (Zap Map); at the forefront of modern and innovative technology; committed to the environment; dedicated to providing excellent service and facilities to their customers,” she continues. Rolec’s back office system is required to ensure network operators can control and manage their energy usage when the EV charging points are in use and enables operators to understand charging behaviours; if a charging point is in use and for how long, how much power is utilising and electricity costs to facilitate the recharging of the vehicles.
Network operators simply have an account that informs them of their driver group activity, allowing them to understand key figures such as power usage, costs and charging times. Frankie says: “This can all be viewed, monitored and managed via any web enabled device. EV Charge.
Online also allows network operators to be completely flexible with their pay-to-charge costs, for example, network operators may opt to provide employees with free charging as opposed to charging their visitors a flat rate and residential park industries,” comments Rolec’s Sales Director Martin Georgeson.
Rolec’s ParkServ services includes free-of-charge site surveys and no obligation quotations based on local rates as well as installation work, and rapid response callout services, by local engineers. Add to the equation, local after sales support, electrical testing at local rates and locally stocked spare and replacement parts by local engineers – and it is not hard to see how Rolec’s team will underline its position as the industry’s leading hook-up specialists.
COMPANY CONTACTS
Ladram Bay Tel. 01395 568398
www.ladrambay.co.uk
Rolec
Tel. 01205 724754
email uksales@rolecserv.co.uk
www.rolecserv.com