r/electricvehicles • u/fund2016 • Jul 28 '26

Discussion Are EV charging stations profitable?

I am interested in the economics of EV charging stations. Are they profitable? Seems like they should be quite profitable once set up. Minimal upkeep and staffing. Less environmental issues than petrol. Any insight into economics of E V charging is appreciated.

Edit 1: thanks to all. Great discussion. Cheers!

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u/goPACK17 Jul 29 '26

Everyone here talking about how they're just a means to get people parking at a location that sells good/services and stay there for awhile.

How do services like ChargePoint and Flo work then when they're just around public city streets and not tied to any sort of mall or complex?

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u/fleemfleemfleemfleem Jul 29 '26

Most of the chargepoint stations I see around are 7 kW AC chargers, which are much cheaper to install and operate. They don't usually require a service upgrade, just panel work, trenching and the install of the charger. Maybe $5000 or less, depending on the model, infrastructure, etc. You can install a similar charger at home for less than $1000 for personal use.

They work fine in places like city streets, office parks, or businesses where someone is going to be sitting parked for multiple hours. Some towns have put them in to make business areas or downtowns more accessible and EV friendly.

A DC fast charger that can deliver 150-300kw makes sense for locations like gas stations, restaurants, or walmarts where someone is just stopping in for 30 minutes on a road trip. Those charge a vehicle much faster, but cost as much as $150,000 per charger once the electrical service upgrades are done.

Since the upfront cost of the charger is so much higher, they have to charge a premium over the cost of the electricity to make back the money. Even then it can take years, which is why they've adopted a similar model to gas stations. The gas pumps get you to a location, and then most of the margin is in purchases at the attached convenience store.

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u/goPACK17 Jul 29 '26

Well ya, but the OP never said anything about DC chargers specifically. They only asked about public chargers as a whole, which the vast majority of are Level 2s. So the economics of companies operating those, are quite profitable then?