How to install chargers without major grid upgrades.
If you are considering installing EV chargers at your business, you may be asking yourself: "Does my building even have the electrical capacity for EV charging?" If your building does not, you may still be able to install EV chargers while avoiding costly grid upgrades. This is a practical guide to what's realistic, what to expect, and where Soneil Spark's products best fit your needs.
Limitations
Installing EV charging without major upgrades usually means staying within your existing electrical service and spare panel/transformer capacity. The hard limits tend to be:
- Available Electrical capacity (kW plus amps) Your building's main service, panels, and sometimes the local utility transformer may not have enough capacity for multiple chargers—especially if your building operates at peak load (HVAC, etc.) already. If that's the case, you may be looking at significant grid upgrades with long lead times.
- Peak demand and demand charges Even if you can connect chargers, charging many vehicles at once can spike peak demand and inflate bills (or force upgrades). Demand-charge exposure can be a recurring fleet barrier.
- Utility interconnection timelines If you do need more capacity (even "moderate"), timelines can be dominated by utility studies, gear (transformers, switchgear) and other factors. Large transformer lead times can reach multiple years. In the US, large transformer delivery times have been cited as averaging 24 to 36 months.
- High-power charging requirements DC fast charging or high simultaneous depot load typically pushes you into bigger service and utility work. National Renewable Energy Laboratory notes high-power EVSE (and depot M/HDV charging) often requires large interconnections.
Ways to avoid major upgrades
Infrastructure upgrades, such as transformer installation lead times which can take 24-36 months and be very costly, can often be avoided in several ways:
- Managing charging/load sharing. In this case, business owners can cap the site demand of EV charging at a fixed kW level to avoid overages, and rotate vehicles during charging to stay within set limits.
- Installation of lower-power Level 2 AC charging. This option places less demand on infrastructure that DC chargers, and is a solid solution for fleet businesses than can do overnight, shift-based charging.
- Battery-buffered/mobile charging. This option skips—or can augment—the building's limitations by serving as an independent off-grid charger, thus reducing site peaks.
Which Spark products fit best without major upgrades?
If you are considering one of the above scenarios for EV charging, Spark has products to fit your needs.
Without a doubt, the best fit for minimal upgrade depot charging is Soneil Spark's AC Level 2 chargers.
- Spark AC 40A NEMA (Level 2 AC) – up to 40A, adjustable. Good when vehicles can charge longer and you want simpler electrical work (often still needs a circuit per charger).
- Spark AC Commercial 80A (hardwired, Level 2 AC) – adjustable up to 80A, with output power rating listed up to 19.2 kW. Best when you need faster Level 2 charging, but possible to incur site capacity constraints if you deploy many simultaneous units.
Even in this scenario, commercial owners can deploy more ports than capacity, then cap total site charging via scheduling/load management so not every vehicle is charging at full power at the same time.
When you need instant capacity regardless of building limitations, or need to augment building capacity, or need access to off-grid fleet charging solutions, the Spark Mobile Charging Trailer (MCT) is the ideal solution.
- Spark's MCT can serve as an "independent microgrid," with up to 200 kW charge speed and battery capacity options such as 215 kWh, 430 kWh, and higher.
- The MCT can provide charging capacity without pulling that peak load from your building service, and you can treat it as a permanent mobile solution, or a temporary/bridge solution while you wait for utility upgrades or scale gradually.
- The MCT is specifically designed for underpowered or off-grid locations and supports multiple energy sources.
Whatever your commercial needs, Spark's professional staff can assist you in your electrification journey. Contact us for more information about our products, services, even grants and incentives in your area. We are here to help you electrify your future.
Current infrastructure level in Canada and the U.S.
While public charging continues to expand, depot charging remains the primary solution for fleet operations.
- NRCan-based reporting showed that as of March 1, 2025, Canada had 33,767 public charging ports across 12,955 public station locations.
- Federal ZEV infrastructure targets include 84,500 chargers (and 45 hydrogen stations) to be deployed by 2029 under national efforts like ZEVIP.
- Canada continues to fund new chargers (e.g., announcements in late 2025 for deployments at workplaces/public/on street/MURBs).
- Canada continues to offer grants and incentives to help EV expansion.
Bottom Line: Public charging growth helps, but depot charging is still the backbone for commercial fleets—because you control uptime, pricing, and scheduling.