Installing workplace EV charging in Switzerland: costs, procedure and sizing

Workplace EV charging in Switzerland costs, as an order of magnitude, CHF 2,000 to 5,000 per AC charge point installed (written CHF 2'000.– to 5'000.– in Swiss format), depending on cable runs, load management and the state of the main distribution board. Before you ask for quotes, though, one question matters more than price: where do your vehicles spend the night?

A company car that the employee takes home charges mainly at home, not in your car park. This guide explains the cost items, the procedure under the Low-Voltage Installation Ordinance (NIV / OIBT), planning with the SIA 2060 technical bulletin, the tax treatment of the electricity and a full 50-vehicle calculation. It also explains why Voltaback, as software, measures and reimburses home charging instead of adding charge points on site. Written for international facility and fleet teams, it keeps the Swiss terms in brackets so you can talk to installers and tax offices.

Key points in 30 seconds

• Cost: roughly CHF 2'000.– to 5'000.– per installed AC point; DC rapid charging costs several times more.
• Procedure: licensed electrician, connection request (TAG) and installation notice (IA) to the network operator, works, safety certificate (SiNa / RS).
• Planning: SIA 2060 levels A to D let you equip in stages.
• Subsidies: cantonal or communal only, never federal.
• Reality: four in five Swiss EV drivers charge where they live.

How much does workplace EV charging cost?

Price depends less on the hardware than on the installation. A simple 11 kW wallbox costs around CHF 800.– to 1'600.– as a unit, a 22 kW unit around CHF 1'600.– to 2'400.–. Installation adds CHF 1'000.– to 3'000.–, depending on the distance to the board and any drilling.

Source: Houzy, wallbox installation costs (indicative 2023 figures, single-family home).

In an underground car park (Einstellhalle / parking souterrain) or an outdoor company car park, further items appear: flat cable or busbar, RFID access control, back-office software for billing, and possibly civil works for outdoor spaces.

Orders of magnitude per charge point (CHF, excl. VAT)

For a public rapid charger, Electrosuisse cited an investment of around CHF 100'000.–. Source: Beobachter, 2020. These are orders of magnitude: get at least three quotes.

Costs that quotes tend to play down

• Back-office and billing: a fee per point per month if you want to bill employees or visitors.
• Maintenance: service contract, replacement of damaged charging cables.
• Grid upgrade: if the building connection is too small, the network operator requires reinforcement, often with a grid cost contribution and several months of lead time.
• Load management: software and meters that share the available power between cars. Without it, a larger installation is rarely approved.

Tip: ask for the cost per point over five years, not only the installation price.

Load management: why you almost always need it

25 points at 11 kW each add up to a theoretical peak of 275 kW. Few office buildings have that much spare capacity. Dynamic load management measures the building's current load and gives the charge points only the free capacity.

For a car parked for eight hours this makes almost no difference: even at 3 kW it receives about 24 kWh, enough for well over 100 km. With several charge points or above 22 kVA, network operators generally require load management.

Sources: CKW, legal requirements for charging stations, Werkvorschriften Zentralschweiz, notifications.

The procedure under the NIV, step by step

Electrical installations fall under the Low-Voltage Installation Ordinance (NIV / OIBT, SR 734.27) and the NIN standard (SN 411000). The supervisory authority is the Federal Inspectorate for Heavy Current Installations (ESTI). In practice, only an electrician holding an installation licence may carry out the work. Unlike in some countries, a company cannot do it in-house.

Source: Swiss Federal Office of Energy, low-voltage installations.

1. Map how vehicles are used

Split your vehicles into three groups: company cars taken home, field staff who rarely visit head office, and pool or service vehicles that stay on site overnight. Only the third group truly needs charge points at work.

2. Electrical survey

The installer checks the building connection, the main board, cable routes and the car park. The outcome is the available capacity and whether a grid upgrade is needed.

3. Connection request and installation notice

Before work starts, the installer files a technical connection request (technisches Anschlussgesuch, TAG) and an installation notice (Installationsanzeige, IA) with the distribution network operator. Work begins only once the operator agrees. Details are in each operator's technical rules, for instance ewz or EKZ in Zurich, SIG in Geneva or WWZ in Zug.

4. Leased premises: written landlord consent

If your company rents its premises, any renovation or alteration requires the landlord's written consent (Art. 260a of the Code of Obligations, OR / CO). Use the same letter to agree on removal and any compensation when you move out.

Source: Art. 260a OR, Fedlex.

5. Works, safety certificate and commissioning

After the work, the installer issues the safety certificate (Sicherheitsnachweis, SiNa / rapport de sécurité, RS) with measurement and test reports, and hands it to the owner. Depending on the building's inspection cycle, an independent acceptance inspection may be required. Then come back-office set-up, access rules and billing.

To compare quotes, use our installer quote service: Voltaback does not install chargers, but helps you get competing offers from licensed installers.

Planning with SIA 2060 and local rules

The SIA 2060 technical bulletin "Infrastructure for electric vehicles in buildings" defines equipment levels. They let you build the basic infrastructure now and fit charging stations later, as demand grows.

Source: Canton of Basel-Stadt, SIA 2060 levels.

There is no federal obligation to equip company car parks with charge points. Requirements come from cantons and municipalities:

• Canton of Zurich: since August 2025, municipalities may specify how parking spaces are equipped in their building and zoning regulations (§ 244(4) PBG). Source: Canton of Zurich.
• City of Lucerne: since 1 August 2026, 20 % of company spaces in new or renovated car parks must be prepared to level C2; the chargers themselves are not mandatory. Source: electrive, 30.06.2026.

So check your municipality's building regulations for every construction or refurbishment project. More in our article on workplace charging obligations. To understand a charging installation from grid connection to software, read our guide to charging infrastructure architecture.

Subsidies: cantons and municipalities only

The Confederation does not subsidise company charge points. Some cantons and municipalities do, on very different terms: Basel-Stadt funds basic infrastructure in private car parks, including company ones, while Zurich's programme ran out of money in October 2026.

Almost every programme has one rule in common: apply before work starts. The canton-by-canton overview is in our article on EV charging subsidies for businesses.

Who pays for electricity at work?

On site, the company pays for the electricity. The tax consequences depend on the vehicle:

• Company car: the private-use share of 0.9 % of the purchase price per month assumes the employer bears all costs. Electricity is therefore covered, with no extra benefit to declare (salary certificate guidelines, Rz 21).
• Employee's own EV: free charging at work is not on the list of benefits that need not be declared (Rz 72), unlike free parking at work. Check the practice with the tax office of your company's seat canton before advertising it as a perk.

Source: ESTV, salary certificate (Lohnausweis) guidelines 2026.

For company cars charged at home it works the other way round: the employee pays for the electricity on their own bill and the company must reimburse it, either with the Swiss Tax Conference (SSK / CSI) lump sum of at most CHF 60.– per month in an expense regulation (Spesenreglement) or at actual cost. How to do this is explained in our guide to managing and reimbursing fleet home charging.

Where do your drivers really charge?

A representative survey commissioned by the Swiss Federal Office of Energy with support from the TCS (2,003 respondents, summer 2025) is clear: four in five EV drivers charge where they live. Barely 30 % charge occasionally or often at work, and around a quarter use public charge points in everyday life.

Source: TCS, How does Switzerland charge?, 04.11.2025.

The price gap is large. The median household tariff (profile H4) is 27.7 Rp./kWh in 2026 (26.5 Rp. in 2027), with wide differences between municipalities: 21.9 Rp. in Zug, 24.9 Rp. in Geneva, 33.2 Rp. in Basel-Stadt. Public rapid charging costs several times more, CHF 0.39 to 0.69 per kWh with Electra depending on the plan.

Source: ElCom, electricity prices.

Tip: before any quote, sort your vehicles into three columns (company car, field, pool). Only the "pool" column truly sizes your car park.

Does it pay off? The 50-vehicle calculation

Take a company in Zug with 50 electric company cars, parked every evening at the employees' homes, and a head office with 60 parking spaces.

• Option A: equip the car park for the whole fleet, 1 point for every 2 vehicles, i.e. 25 AC points.
• Option B: 3 points for pool cars and visitors, and organise home charging.

The key point: option A does not replace home charging. The cars sleep at the drivers' homes and charge there in both options. Both options therefore include a suitable home installation, CHF 840.– per vehicle on average under our simulator's default assumptions (30 % non-connected wallbox at CHF 1'800.–, 50 % industrial socket at CHF 600.–, 20 % already equipped).

Line by line (5 years, CHF, excl. VAT)

The CHF 116'600.– gap comes entirely from the 22 extra points: 22 × (3'500 + 1'800) = 116'600.

Assumptions: CHF 3'500.– per installed AC point (middle of the range), CHF 30.– per point per month for back-office and maintenance (Voltaback assumption, replace it with your quote).

What the table deliberately leaves out:

• Energy: the kilometres are the same in both options; only the charging location changes.
• Option A's grid upgrade: 25 × 11 kW = 275 kW peak. Without load management, reinforcement with a grid cost contribution is likely.

The result holds at lower prices: at CHF 2'500.– per point, the gap is still 22 × 4'300 = CHF 94'600.–.

Rerun the numbers with your own data in the home charging solutions simulator, or get the right home installation per vehicle with the charging installation simulator.

And home charging, in both options?

In A as in B, employees charge at home and the company reimburses that electricity. The method matters: a connected wallbox at every driver's home costs several times more than a software solution. The line-by-line comparison is in our article on connected chargers for employees.

Which solution for which vehicle?

For employees who rent or live in a condominium (Stockwerkeigentum / PPE), change is coming: Parliament adopted motion 23.3936 in June 2025. The Federal Council wants to be able to oblige owners of residential buildings to install the basic charging infrastructure when tenants or co-owners ask for it. The consultation on the amendment to the Energy Act ran until 12 October 2026; the rule is not yet in force.

Source: Federal Office of Justice, 19.06.2026.

Tip: run a pilot with 3 drivers before ordering 25 chargers. Within a month you know where your fleet really charges.

What Voltaback changes in practice

Voltaback tracks all of your fleet's charging in one dashboard: at home, on your sites and on the road. It is 100 % software, with no hardware, connected to more than 48 car brands.

• Reimbursement at actual cost: each home charging session is recorded and valued at the real tariff of the employee's contract, peak and off-peak, charging losses included. See our page on home charging reimbursement.
• Measurement: Voltaback relies on the home's MID-certified meter, not on a standalone cable meter. The measurement was audited by an independent third party: 1.22 % relative error.
• Data protection: ISO 27001 certified since 2 December 2025, compliant with the revised Federal Act on Data Protection (nDSG / nLPD). The company never receives drivers' location data.
• Telematics without a box: mileage, consumption, eco-driving, alerts and maintenance, combustion vehicles included.
• On the road: the Electra charging card.
• Installation: Voltaback does not install chargers but helps you get and compare installer quotes.

More than 200 companies, including major European groups, already reimburse their drivers' home charging with Voltaback.

Take the next step

Before ordering 25 chargers, find out where your vehicles charge. Book a demo: in 30 minutes you get the real charging cost of your fleet, the right number of points on site and a plan to reimburse home charging without unnecessary hardware.