We know gas is expensive, and it can be pumped into a car quickly. So it makes sense to buy a gas station and operate it as a for profit business. But what about electric charging stations? If scale EV ownership to the level of ownership that gas powered vehicles, what does that look like? Long lines at charging stations? Charging stations everywhere? Do restaurants starts installing charging stations so people can charge their EVs while they eat. Movie theaters. Grocery stores? Are we just gonna end up with charging stations everywhere? The gas station business model doesn't seem like the right way to go for EVs once too many people start driving them. Am I wrong?
Is it profitable to run an EV charging station?
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23-12-22 11:50
It doesn't. Margins are so small that filling stations depend on sales of groceries, coffee, etc. -
23-12-22 16:51Margins on liquid fuel are indeed tiny. It could be argued that, forced to hang around for a while, EV owners are likely to spend more in the shop.
As for restaurants, a charging facility might be a way to get one up on the opposition. Not that many years ago, wifi in a restaurant was a rarity. Then Mc D's offered it FOC and slowly, all the others followed suit. Now, we are surprised to find ourselves in any public place without a wifi connection.
If I had an EV and wanted an hotel, charging would be top of the list of requirements. -
30-07-24 14:03@CokraMehinka The answer is... It depends.
First of all, profits on fuel at standard service stations (not motorways ones), is general around €0.01 per litre or less, and even at motorway service stations it's small, so petrol stations are profitable. To make profit, as one user has suggested, the filling stations rely on sales of coffee, sausage rolls, crisps, and other sundry items.
The cost of running an EV charging station depend on multiple factors and are often front loaded. First, you the land, which may cost a pretty penny. Then you need planning permission. Next, it will probably need a grid upgrade which is expensive and time consuming. There is, of course, the cost of the chargers themselves. Ultra Rapid chargers (150kW+) are ultra expensive at £100k+ per chargers (that can usually charger two cars simultaneously). Rapid Chargers (50kW - <150kW) start at around £25k. Then there's the installation and maintenance costs.
Given that ultra rapid chargers can often charger a car in between 15 and 30 minutes, it does provide an opportunity for operators to create upsell opportunities via shopping and other services, space permitting. -
30-07-24 17:50My take is that you will gradually see fewer petrol stations and more chargers at supermarkets and other big box stores so they have a captive audience while their cars charge.
As you have correctly stated there's little profit on the sale of petrol but you can charge an EV at home or on the street which will further reduce the monopoly that petrol filling stations now have, and the government did mandate that all new houses have an EV charging as standard, again reducing the petrol stations monopoly. If buying petrol is the only thing that brings in the customer so they can buy drinks and snacks is gone, then the petrol station won't be able to stay in business unless they raise petrol prices, which may increase the sale of EV's.
And to install a charging station like a petrol station you won't have to worry about such things as the petrol tankers needing enough room for deliveries, or neighbour complaints about such deliveries or the smell of petrol all the time, opening up a lot of previously impractical sites. I don't think that building charging stations over or near the highly flammable petrol storage tanks will be practical from an insurance standpoint.
Too many variables and 'what if's' to do anything other than guess the future.
"May you live in interesting times"
Old Chinese curse
