How is a depot planned?
All 30 vans are back. If every charge point ran at full power now, the depot would draw almost 300 kW.
Its grid connection was planned for much less.
The questionHow is a depot sized, and why does the night matter?
A composed example: 30 vans arriving evenly between 4 PM and 7 PM, each needing 30 kWh, at charge points of 11 kW. Managed, the same 900 kWh are delivered by about 12:30 AM at less than half the peak.
From routes to kilowatts
Planning starts with the routes, not the chargers. In the example, each van drives about 120 km a day; at an assumed 0.25 kWh per km including charging losses, it needs 30 kWh a night. Thirty vans need 900 kWh. Between 4 PM and 6 AM there are 14 hours, so on average the depot needs about 65 kW, far below the peak of all chargers at once.
For bus and truck depots, the IEA describes planning as an integrated approach that combines route profiling, battery sizing, charging strategies and the number of chargers.
The grid connection sets the pace
For those depots, the IEA notes that poorly optimised charging can significantly increase peak power demand, raising costs and lengthening grid connection timelines; in some cases, shifting part of the load can cut maximum depot demand by up to 60%. For large depots, grid connection is often one of the longest parts of the project: limited capacity, permits and reinforcements can delay depots by several years. How a controller divides limited power between vehicles is explained in Load management, stop 04.
Check your understanding
3 questions. Answer all of them to complete this stop. Each answer explains itself.
30 vans each need 30 kWh, and the depot has 10 hours to charge them. What average power is needed?
900 kWh in 10 hours is 90 kW on average.
Where does depot planning start?
Routes give the energy per vehicle and night; chargers and connection follow from there.
Why is the grid connection often the longest part of a depot project?
The IEA reports that limited substation capacity, permitting and reinforcements can delay depots by several years.
- Substation A facility of the grid operator that transforms electricity between voltage levels; its spare capacity decides how quickly a large new connection, such as a depot, can be supplied. Glossary
- IEA: Global EV Outlook 2026: Electric vehicle charging. https://www.iea.org/reports/global-ev-outlook-2026/electric-vehicle-charging-chap-6-and-10. Checked 09 Oct 2026. Licence: CC BY 4.0.
- IEA: Global EV Outlook 2026: Electric vehicle charging. https://www.iea.org/reports/global-ev-outlook-2026/electric-vehicle-charging-chap-6-and-10. Checked 09 Oct 2026. Licence: CC BY 4.0.
- IEA: Global EV Outlook 2026: Electric vehicle charging. https://www.iea.org/reports/global-ev-outlook-2026/electric-vehicle-charging-chap-6-and-10. Checked 09 Oct 2026. Licence: CC BY 4.0.