Fruitful Office, the UK’s leading office fruit provider, is on a mission to achieve carbon neutrality by 2040. A crucial step in this mission is transitioning their delivery fleet from diesel to electric Light Commercial Vehicles (eLCVs). Plug Me In is delighted to support Fruitful Office in their efforts to reduce their carbon footprint, with the installation of 30 EV chargers at their main depot in Sutton.

 

 

Identifying the right partner

We were introduced to Fruitful Office through our partner, Starla Energy, at a pivotal moment in their transition. At that time, Fruitful Office was consulting with several prominent EV charger installation providers. According to Matthew Martin, Fruitful Office’s Transport Manager, our proactive, consultative approach stood out, ultimately securing us the contract.

 

“We wanted to significantly reduce our transportation-related carbon emissions and had begun investing in EV vans in 2023,“ Matthew explained. “While exploring options for depot charging, we found that providers offered limited support, expecting us to determine our power capacity and arrange upgrades to support the combined load of multiple chargers charging simultaneously. We were introduced to Plug Me In through Starla Energy and they were immediately responsive and incredibly helpful, providing a complete end-to-end service that included sending engineers and electricians out to assess our power capacity and liaising with our Distribution Network Operator (DNO), to coordinate the necessary supply upgrade.”

 

 

A tailored, cost-effective charging solution

 

Fruitful Office had originally planned to install EV chargers in three phases, increasing the number of chargers as their EV fleet expanded. We worked closely with their team to understand both immediate and future requirements and provided a number of options that aligned with their goals. Ultimately, we agreed on an initial installation of 30 chargers to support their existing fleet and short term plans, with the flexibility to add 10 more as the fleet expands.

 

One of our biggest achievements in this project was designing a solution that not only minimised operational disruption during the installation process, but saved Fruitful Office tens of thousands of pounds. While other suppliers proposed an expensive and disruptive solution that involved trenching cables through the car park, we offered a simpler, more efficient solution by securing 30 individual Zaptec chargers along the depot’s perimeter fence. 

 

Since Zaptec chargers support loop-in/loop-out wiring systems, we were able to, in effect, route a single cable along the depot fence, which reduced install time and therefore cost. We also ensured that our solution had the right electrical and protection infrastructure, load management and software support.

 

Matthew commented, “Plug Me In designed a far simpler and more cost-effective solution than those suggested by other providers. They also guided us through available government grants, helping us secure £15k of funding for the project.”

 

Maciej Czajka, Head of Operations, added, “The installation went very smoothly thanks to Plug Me In’s careful coordination. They were onsite to oversee the power supply upgrade, and worked with us, keeping us informed all the way, to ensure that all the works were conducted around our operations and disruption was kept to a minimum.”

 

 

Future-proofing for fleet expansion

The EV charging solution at Fruitful Office’s depot now enables simultaneous charging of all 23 eLCV vans, with additional capacity to charge up to seven more vehicles. The setup is also scalable, with the option to add 10 more chargers as their EV fleet grows. Fruitful Office is currently exploring the possibility of extending the charging facilities to staff and visitors, with centralised control and monitoring software, which again Plug Me In are supporting with.

 

Matthew concluded, “Plug Me In provided an exceptional service and experience. We particularly appreciated their responsiveness, enthusiasm for the project, and how friendly and helpful every team member was. They worked with us to deliver an optimal, cost-effective solution and we very much look forward to collaborating further to expand our Sutton facility and eventually install EV chargers at our other regional hubs.”