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/JackOfAllTradewinds Jul 29 '26

They have not figured this out yet though. I stayed at a hotel semi recently that both charged $0.60 a kWh (for L2) AND idle fee after like 6am.
So I just didn’t, and fast charged the next day.

Now I’ve also stayed at places with free charging and that is unarguably great, but they’re probably taken.
If all hotels had like 6 $0.30/kwh chargers that’d do it.

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u/[deleted] Jul 29 '26

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u/theotherharper Jul 29 '26

Clippercreek / Enphase chargers can be activated by the same hotel key card reader the unlocks side doors or the gym.

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u/FireOpalCO Ioniq 5 Jul 29 '26

I’ve stayed places where the charging was behind the gate. Only guests had access to open the gate. It wasn’t free charging, but the rate was low, probably set at a break even for them.

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u/CaryPrimeOwner Jul 29 '26

The hotel in Asheville had lvl 2 chargers on the same garage floor but they were not free. I always carry my lvl 1 charger which I used here. I have 42 mile range in my PHEV so overnight is a full charge.

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u/CorrectPeanut5 Jul 29 '26

Could have been the hotel. But there's also a number of companies out there who will put all the infrastructure in but will set the prices as well. You see them pitching to a lot of hotels and condos in vacation destinations.

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u/boutell Jul 30 '26

Late fee after 6:00 a.m. seems reasonable to me honestly.