EV Charging for Business 2026: What the Law Already Requires and How It Pays Off

Most managers still see an EV charger as a customer perk. Since the start of 2025 it is also a legal requirement for a large share of business buildings in Bulgaria — and since 2026 connecting one has become dramatically simpler. Here is what you need to know before planning your car park.

What the law already requires of buildings with parking

The obligation sits in Art. 50 of Ordinance РД-02-20-2 of the Ministry of Regional Development, not in the Energy Efficiency Act — which is why it is so often missed. The ordinance defines three classes of charging point: high power (above 22 kW), normal power (above 3.7 kW up to 22 kW) and points up to 3.7 kW for category L vehicles (mopeds and motorcycles).

For public-service and mixed-use buildings:

• Existing buildings with more than twenty parking spaces — already in force: under § 35 of the transitional provisions, since 1 January 2025 one space must be equipped with a charging point above 22 kW and at least one with a point up to 3.7 kW. This duty does not wait for a renovation and the cost exemption does not apply to it.
• New buildings with more than ten parking spaces — the same pair of points, plus ducting for every fifth space.
• On reconstruction, renovation or major repair of an existing building with more than ten spaces, the same requirement applies.
• Cost exemption: on renovation the duty falls away if the cost of the charging points and ducting exceeds 7% of the total construction works value. It does not apply to new buildings or to § 35.

What arrives by 1 January 2027

The recast Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EU) 2024/1275 raises the bar: by 1 January 2027 all non-residential buildings with more than 20 parking spaces must have one charging point per 10 spaces, or ducting for at least half of them. For new and majorly renovated buildings with more than 5 spaces the requirement is one point per five spaces plus pre-cabling, and for office buildings it is stricter still — one point per two spaces.

As of August 2026 these provisions are not yet transposed into the Bulgarian ordinance. The practical conclusion is simple: if you are designing a car park now, lay ducting for more spaces than today's law demands — retrofitting later costs many times more than pipes laid in one go.

How many electric cars are actually on the road

This is no longer a niche: Bulgaria has roughly 32,000 plug-in vehicles as of 2026, and new battery-electric registrations in the first half of 2026 nearly doubled year on year. The BEV share of new cars reached about 7.9% — still below the EU average of roughly 21%, which means the growth is still ahead.

Two numbers that change the business case:

• About 4,400 public charging points nationally, of which nearly 44% are fast DC — double the EU average share.
• Around 80% of new electric cars in Bulgaria are bought by corporate fleets — meaning your clients and partners increasingly arrive in an EV.

How a charging station earns

Returns come from three different places, and rarely from selling electricity alone. The average fast-charging price in Bulgaria is about €0.38/kWh — the lowest in Europe alongside Finland — against a business electricity price of roughly €0.14/kWh excluding VAT. The spread covers equipment, maintenance and fees, but real profit depends on utilisation.

• Public charging — revenue per kWh; works with traffic, visibility from the road and a convenient dwell time.
• Customers and staff — a hotel, restaurant, mall or office: the charger extends the stay and becomes a reason to choose your location. Indirect revenue, usually the larger one.
• Own fleet — charging company cars at wholesale cost instead of €0.38–0.46/kWh at a public station; at 20,000 km a year the difference runs into thousands of euro per vehicle.
• Zero-investment model — some operators fund the equipment and installation in exchange for a share of turnover. Lower revenue, but no capital outlay.

Grid connection: the big relief since April 2026

Since 14 April 2026, the new Art. 7a of Ordinance No. 6 removes the connection application when the charging point is built at an existing site for own needs, the contracted power and number of phases stay unchanged, and no electricity is exported to the grid. That takes months out of a typical project timeline — the operator simply issues a document confirming supply through the existing facilities.

If you do need more power, two rules are worth knowing in advance: connected power is set between 110% and 130% of contracted power (headroom is built in), and if you exceed contracted power in two consecutive months the supplier may adjust it administratively. That is why dynamic load management is cheaper than raising your connection.

Permits: when it is construction and when it is not

Under a 2025 opinion of the national construction control authority, a fixed charging station is a construction work — an element of technical infrastructure — while a movable one is treated as a movable object requiring a placement permit. The difference matters for timelines and paperwork. If connection requires new external power lines, that network part remains construction under the Spatial Development Act.

And good news for operations: running a publicly accessible charging point is not a licensed activity — the operator is a party to an electricity supply contract, not a licence holder.

Where to start

Planning charging infrastructure is 80% electrical engineering and 20% choosing a device. We handle both — from sizing and grid connection to monitoring after commissioning. If your car park sits next to a building with its own roof, see how solar and charging work together, and for funding sources — our 2026 review.

Request a charging infrastructure consultation — the site survey and sizing are free.