Commercial charging stations for electric vehicles

Commercial charging stations are a profitable business for charging electric cars

Businesses in the service sector received a unique opportunity to expand and extract additional profit due to the provision of electric car charging services. In addition, relatively inexpensive and quickly repaid equipment allows you to make your location more attractive to clients, increasing your income even more.

Commercial charging stations for electric cars occupy a minimum of functional space and require only short-term periodic maintenance. Yet, at the same time, they bring income around the clock, without days off.

The best places to install a commercial charging station

The idea is clear, simple, and straightforward. Most of the clients will be in places where private transport is concentrated. It is even better if this place involves an extended stay. These places include:

• hotels;
• restaurants;
• spa – salons;
• parking lots;
• entertainment and shopping centers.

The places where cars are permanently parked can be considered the most attractive. Garage cooperatives are hundreds of cars that require dozens of charging points. It should be noted that charging an electric car is fundamentally different from refueling with liquid fuel or gas in terms of the duration of the process.

The electric charging station is a profitable business

The benefit of having a commercial charging station consists of two main parts. The first part is the direct income that the owner has from charging electric cars. The second part can be considered indirect or figurative.

The owner's profit will be the difference between the costs of maintaining the station's equipment, the electricity bill, and the income received from the sale of charging services.

Monitoring the service market shows the unique attractiveness of facilities equipped with charging points for electric cars. Taking into account the fact that the owners of not cheap electric cars, as a rule, are wealthy people, the facility receives new profitable customers.

The image part of the income turns into a significant competitive advantage for the owner and consists of the following parts:

• positioning of the entire business as a company with an innovative approach;
• the inflow of new cash clients;
• demonstration of an ecological approach to solving technical problems.

Expenses for arrangement

Even one commercial charging station consumes a significant amount of electricity. Currently, the most popular are models with a capacity of 7 kW and up to 44 kW. Such a unit will not work, plug it into the outlet and start counting the income.

Therefore, the first significant part of the costs will be obtaining permission to connect to the existing network or lay a new network. After solving the connection issue, you can start purchasing the equipment.

The complexity and cost of the software depend on the number of stations and the need to organize their operation in a single network. The branched system is built as a "smart network", has additional advantages, and allows for an increased income. Equipment management according to the E-Mobility business model allows:

• change tariffs depending on the time of day;
• receive reports and statistics necessary for economic analysis;
• receive information about breakdowns in real-time;
• to react adequately in the event of a drop in network quality indicators.

The above expenses are one-time expenses. Periodic expenses include payment of electricity and services of repair and maintenance organizations. It should be noted that modern models of commercial charging stations are designed for long-term trouble-free operation and require minimal maintenance and repair costs.

Income part

The organization of receiving income from charging electric cars can be implemented in various ways and, in most cases, is limited only by the imagination of the business owner. Charging service is often offered free of charge.

In this case, profit is obtained from increasing the number of customers of the leading business (hotels, parking lots, etc.) by adding a few percent to the cost of other services.

You can go the other way and charge for charging the car. In this case, the profit is calculated as the difference between income and expenses. There is only one income in this option: payment by the client for refueling the car. Expenses include the cost of servicing equipment and clients, the cost of electricity, taxes, rent, and more.

How to choose and buy a commercial charging station

Choosing a specific business model is not an easy task. The difficulty lies in the fact that at this stage, there are no uniform standards, and different cars require different charging stations and connectors.

To begin with, you will have to solve the main issue: choosing a business model. It is customary to consider four types: Mode 1, Mode 2, Mode 3, Mode 4, and Supercharger.

Mode 1 is used long-term charging of private cars directly from the household network. It has low power and low reliability and is not used for commercial applications.

Charging stations such as Mode 2 are widely used for their versatility and relatively low price and are used for both personal use and commercial purposes. Allow charging cars of all types. Charging takes up to 8 hours, with a battery capacity of up to 25 kWh.

Mode 3 samples represent the most potent AC devices. It is possible to work with single-phase voltage (Type 1 connector) and three-phase (Type 2 connector).

Relatively rare are Mode 4-type stations that produce direct current. However, this is excellent equipment for business. With a significant power reserve, such devices can charge a car up to 80% charge in 30 minutes. Therefore, it is advisable to use them on the highway near gas stations.

The low distribution of the Mode 4 type is easily explained by their high cost and the need for extensive input powers. The latter circumstance, as a rule, leads to the need to lay separate power lines.

Familiarization with the various types of charging stations would be incomplete if not to say a few words about the Supercharger. These "monsters" can charge any car in a matter of minutes. However, it is clear that they cost fantastic money, they are not well suited for the Ukrainian market, and can only be considered as a direction indicator for development.

Alternative classifications

When choosing equipment, one must deal with various alternative classification methods. Often there are attempts to simplify the issue and reduce everything to the difference in power consumption. Sometimes, on the contrary, they complicate everything by adding the types of connectors (connectors) used to the power characteristics.

Such attempts complicate the issue of choice for business people. Moreover, the description of the various connectors does not make much sense because, thanks to the Chinese "craftsmen", their designs are constantly changing. It remains to be hoped that, in the end, common sense will prevail, and an international standard for connectors will be adopted.

Buy "wisely"

If you have decided on the charging station, you can proceed to purchase. The consultants of our store will help you choose the exact model you need. Here you can discuss any subtleties of the equipment and their compliance with the tasks of your business.

Do not trust random people, work with professionals. Visit the website www.toka.energy. There is a large selection of products from the best European and world manufacturers for residents of Kyiv with free delivery. And most importantly, you are always welcome.