How Many Chargers Does a Fleet Depot Need? A Sizing Method

Short answer: size a depot from energy and time. For each vehicle: daily kWh ÷ hours it can charge = minimum power. Add 20–30 % margin, choose AC or DC accordingly, decide whether vehicles get one point each or share chargers in sequence, then check the total against grid capacity — with load management, the depot rarely needs the sum of all chargers’ power.

Step 1: daily energy per vehicle

Daily energy (kWh) = daily distance (km) × consumption (kWh/km)

Vehicle type	Typical consumption*	150 km day	300 km day
Electric car / taxi	0.15–0.20 kWh/km	23–30 kWh	45–60 kWh
Electric van (3.5 t)	0.22–0.30 kWh/km	33–45 kWh	66–90 kWh
Medium truck	0.6–0.9 kWh/km	90–135 kWh	180–270 kWh
City bus	1.0–1.4 kWh/km	150–210 kWh	300–420 kWh

*Indicative ranges; use your vehicles’ data. Cold weather, heating or cooling, loads and hills increase consumption.

Step 2: the charging window

How long is each vehicle parked at the depot with a charger available? Overnight depots often have 8–12 hours; shift operations may have 30–90 minutes between shifts.

Step 3: power per vehicle

Minimum power (kW) = daily energy × (1 + margin) ÷ charging window (h)

Example	Energy + 25 %	Window	Minimum power	Charger
Delivery van, 200 km	≈ 63 kWh	10 h	≈ 6.3 kW	7–11 kW AC
Taxi, 300 km, overnight	≈ 70 kWh	8 h	≈ 9 kW	11 kW AC or 20 kW DC
Taxi, 300 km, 1 h break	≈ 70 kWh	1 h	≈ 70 kW	60–120 kW DC
Medium truck, 250 km	≈ 250 kWh	10 h	≈ 25 kW	30–40 kW DC
City bus, 250 km	≈ 375 kWh	6 h	≈ 63 kW	60–120 kW DC

Remember the vehicle’s own limits: many vans accept only 11 kW AC, and DC power falls as the battery fills — see the DC charging curve.

Step 4: one point per vehicle, or shared?

Approach	How	Fits
One point per vehicle	Every bay has a charger; vehicles plug in on arrival	Overnight depots; simplest operations
Shared in sequence	Fewer, higher-power chargers; vehicles moved or cables reach two bays	Space or budget limits; DC sites
Dual-connector units	One DC cabinet serves two bays, sharing power	Most DC depots

With dual-port AC or dual-connector DC units, one device serves two vehicles — halving foundations and cable runs.

Step 5: check the grid and add load management

Sum of all chargers at full power is the worst case, not the design case. Load management spreads charging over the window:

Required site power ≈ total daily energy ÷ charging window, plus building load and a margin.

Example: 40 vans × 63 kWh = 2,520 kWh over 10 hours → about 250 kW on average, even if 40 × 11 kW = 440 kW of chargers are installed. Smart scheduling by departure time and state of charge keeps the peak near the average — see dynamic load management and demand charges.

Step 6: layout and growth

• Parking order: vehicles that leave first should not be blocked in.
• Cable reach: 5–7 m cables, inlets on different sides of different models.
• Protection: bollards, wheel stops, overhead cable management for large vehicles.
• Spare capacity: one extra point per group for outages.
• Ducts and capacity for the next phase of the fleet.

Recommended VULTAE configuration

Depot	Model
Vans and cars overnight	VT-CP dual-port pedestal or VT-CW dual-port wall charger, 2 × 7–22 kW
Mixed fleets, overnight DC	VT-DW DC wallbox, 20–60 kW, single or dual connector
Taxis, ride-hailing, short breaks	VT-DF dual-connector DC, 60–180 kW
Trucks and buses	VT-DF 160–300 kW (IEC) or up to 360 kW (North America) — see 360 kW
Temporary or overflow	VT-DM mobile DC charger

Send us your vehicle list, daily distances and parking windows, and we will calculate the number of chargers and the site power — see also fleet depots.