OT: Are car charging stations profit centers?

[Peter P.]

Wait a minute; you mean to tell me I have to drive somewhere to hook up my car and wait an hour or more for it to fuel? It seems to me if you don't have a charging station at home, it's a real time killer.

[unterhausen]

I have never charged my car anywhere but home.

[tctyres]

Originally Posted by unterhausen

I have never charged my car anywhere but home.

I just stay home.

[dave thompson]

North Division Bikes, an LBS here in Spokane, has charging station that they allow the public to use.

[Louis]

Originally Posted by tctyres

I just stay home.

But when you do get out, I bet you use this:

[BobbyJones]

A little semi-related side story.

Friend lives in a PA city in a townhouse with no garage and horrendous on street parking. City puts in a charging station in a parking spot right in front.

She buys an EV and has an exclusive parking space in front of her place!

1 year later the city removes the charging station. She loses her spot and has no real way to conveniently charge her car. I do wonder if she runs an extension cord out her window or something.

Talk about a big suck!

[commandcomm]

The money maker will be the person/company that figures how to fully charge electric cars in five minutes like stopping at a gas station to fill up with gasoline.

[bikinchris]

Originally Posted by prototoast

Do you have a good location for rooftop solar? That can be a good investment on its own, and would be particularly valuable if paired with a charging That.

Yes, DC charging is much quicker because it bypasses the EV vehicles own AC to DC converter.

[bikinchris]

Originally Posted by commandcomm

The money maker will be the person/company that figures how to fully charge electric cars in five minutes like stopping at a gas station to fill up with gasoline.

Solid state battery systems are in the works.

[rwsaunders]

We’ve installed Level 2EV charging stations at a number of client offices, mostly to make a statement regarding sustainability and in some cases, code requires so many stations per parking stalls. On average, it costs about $13 to fully charge a vehicle in 4-8 hours and nobody is parked at those offices long enough to do so. The all-in cost to install a station runs about $10-12K...tough to envision a viable ROI.

[tctyres]

Originally Posted by Louis

But when you do get out, I bet you use this:

LOL! I have another 10 clown buddies in the trunk.

[fogrider]

Originally Posted by Peter P.

Wait a minute; you mean to tell me I have to drive somewhere to hook up my car and wait an hour or more for it to fuel? It seems to me if you don't have a charging station at home, it's a real time killer.

This is true. Most EV drivers have access to charging at their home or work. More and more apartment buildings and condo complexes are installing some kind of charging. Charging overnight is also much cheaper. On average, electricity is about half the cost of gas. For me, the good news, never go to a gas station again!

As for DC fast charging or Tesla Supercharging, for me, I rarely need to use it, but it great when I need it. I just pull in and get enough to get home, the few times, I needed it, it was 15 to 20 minutes...enough time to run to the restroom and get a coffee. BTW, the Tesla is the best driving car I've driven!

So, for the most part, I'm not looking to charge a shopping mall, cafe or doctor's office. I'm not gonna pass it up if it's free, and I'm there, but I won't go out of my way for it. If I'm traveling and need to Supercharge, I'll grab coffee and snack.

[Tickdoc]

Originally Posted by rwsaunders

We’ve installed Level 2EV charging stations at a number of client offices, mostly to make a statement regarding sustainability and in some cases, code requires so many stations per parking stalls. On average, it costs about $13 to fully charge a vehicle in 4-8 hours and nobody is parked at those offices long enough to do so. The all-in cost to install a station runs about $10-12K...tough to envision a viable ROI.

Thanks. That answers it as a pretty firm "No" as a profit center but as others point out it is a "Yes" as a convenience.

Makes me want to wait until a company comes to me offering to install and pay for it.

[oldpotatoe]

I gotta question, since I use dino-suff to power my car..for you EV guys..do these charging stations cost anything to use? I'm guessing they do..so stick a CC in there and charge away?

[NHAero]

Some charging stations are pay, and many are free as a draw/convenience/advertising/goodwill. We put 220 kW parking canopies at the local grocery store, and put in several chargers there. The owner can limit the charge rate, so even though they are 240VAC, they won't charge at the rate that many EVs' onboard charger (typically 6-7 kW, unless it has a DC fast charge option) permit. So it doesn't cost the owner much for a 45 minute shopper to charge there.

I think appropriate places to charge are home and work - anyplace where a car will sit for 8 hours (if there will be anything resembling work for many people post-COVID!) The company I left recently installs PVs and has three chargers at the workplace, and also has an employee subsidy for EV/PHEV purchase/lease, once I calculated that over 50% of our operational carbon emissions came from our employees driving. So pre-COVID there were always some cars plugged in.

I have a Clipper Creek HCS-40 at home, which will do a max of 7.7 kW. My Hyundai PHEV has a 3.3kW onboard charger. It charges the car's 8.9 kWh battery in about 2-1/2 hours, which gives about 30 miles of range.