The installation of a charging station is an attractive investment opportunity. However, business is not just about income. When planning the installation of charging infrastructure for making money, it’s also important to understand what costs will have to be borne. In general, they can be divided into 2 large groups – initial investment in infrastructure development and further operating expenses.
Initial Investment
At the very beginning, the business at charging stations will require large capital expenditures, which are necessary for the purchase of the station, its installation, and work related to obtaining the necessary electrical power.
The initial investment for a slow commercial station with the alternating current will amount to $10,000. The cost of entering the market of fast charging stations for electric vehicles starts from $50,000, although you can try to keep it within $30,000. The cost of buying the station itself takes up about a third of the initial cost of developing the charging infrastructure. The cost of an electric vehicle charging station depends on the power, number of connectors, as well as other characteristics.
In addition to the technical features, you may need an additional design for your charging station if you want it to work for your brand and advertise your business.
Costs of Increasing Electric Grid Capacity
The charging station supplies the electric vehicle with electricity received from utilities. Unfortunately, not always and not everywhere the existing infrastructure immediately allows such energy transfer. In the case of slow stations, it’s enough to use to an existing 240 V network, that requires a few hours of work by a good electrician. Having a fast station, it will be necessary to create a 480 V network, which is more expensive.
Of course, it will be cheaper to install a charging station without having to increase the available electric grid capacity. It will be somewhat more expensive to negotiate with the district network operator to install a larger fuse to increase power at the facility. The costs of increasing the capacity of the electric grid are usually very significant — after all, it’s vital to install electrical panels, meters to account for energy use, an additional transformer, substation equipment, fuses, and transmission lines. This may require drilling, trenching, and cement work.
It is difficult to predict the cost of all these works since tariffs depend both on the network company, which calculates the cost individually for each case, and on the region.
Installation Procedure
It’s necessary to develop a scheme for installing a charging station cable on the facade of a house or other object of common property. Next, you have to determine the place where the electric car will be parked. After that, it’s required to initiate a general meeting of owners and bring up for discussion this issue on the use of the common property of an apartment building for the installation of a charger. At the same time, the owner must understand that all work will be carried out at his expense, including maintenance.
The installation of the charging station can be paid for from the funds of the house. However, then the specified equipment is included in the common property of an apartment building and the payment for it is included in the payment for the living space.
All this doesn’t stop businessmen from buying commercial car charging stations, as they know their advantages:
● Vandal-proof housing;
● Convenient connection via Wi-Fi, Bluetooth;
● Electronic systems for monitoring and analytics;
● Fast charging in 2-3 hours.
It makes a commercial EV charger a perfect variant. Get prepared for costs and don’t wait anymore.