This blog was originally published August 15, 2019. The calculator was updated in 2023 to include a mechanism that allows users to input EV charging station customer pricing by the kilowatt-hour instead of only by the minute. Please contact the Transportation & Fuels team with any questions about the calculator.
As part of GPI’s research on the economics of DC fast charging, we created a model to calculate the costs and revenue of operating an electric vehicle (EV) charging station. Through our work with the EV industry, we’ve often heard charging operators, community leaders, and EV owners express a desire to explore how station operation impacts costs for both EV charger owners and users.
We described in our previous blog post that the economic feasibility of a charging station is heavily dependent on the rates its owner must pay to an electric utility for both energy (total kilowatt-hours in a month) and demand (monthly peak kilowatts). The number of customers each day, and the payments those customers make for charging, are also key factors.
The interactive calculator allows users to set utility rates for energy and demand charges and experiment with customer pricing and utilization scenarios. By adjusting prices and daily utilization, users can find out exactly what it would take to break even or have net-positive revenue under a specific electric rate plan.
Viewing on a phone? Here’s a full page version of the calculator →
You can view a manual for the tool here →
Beginner tips for the charging station calculator:
- On the Charger tab, set how many customers might charge at the station each day. The default station power level is 150 kilowatts (kW), which is typical for direct current fast chargers. This input can be modified to reflect Level 2 charging station economics by setting it to a lower amount, like 7 kW. Users can also adjust the amount of kilowatt-hours (kWh) supplied during each charge.
- Users can set utility rates for both summer and winter for energy (kWh) and demand (kW) on the Electrical Costs
- Adjust how much customers should pay to charge each minute or each kWh at the station on the Income
- Examine the role that each type of cost plays in the economic performance of an EV charger in Cost Components in the results. Increasing the station power level (kW) input will increase the share of demand charges quite rapidly.
Download the white paper, Overcoming Barriers to Expanding Fast Charging Infrastructure in the Midcontinent Region.
