I want to start a vehicle charging business

[dhrivnak]

Living in a major city which has the following types of charging stations available:

1. Two Superchargers located outside of city limits
2. Level 2 Chargers available only to hotel guests / employees / etc
3. EV Chargers that haven't had maintenance since before Climate Change existed and therefore no longer work
4. Charging stations that can only be found by 8th level Illuminati brothers following the secret symbols

I think I've identified a market need: EV stations that, like gas stations, are easy to find (think giant "Flying J next exit" signs on the highway), but also have the following features:

1. A portion of their energy comes from renewable energy coupled with energy storage solutions
2. Payment can be achieved with any basic credit / debit card (no need for a membership to an EV charging club that may or may not actually exist)
3. Close to places people will stay for an extended period of time (movie theaters, gyms, apartment complexes, office buildings, etc)
4. Independent entities, i.e. NOT tied to patronage of a hotel or restaurant
5. Possibly some long term parking / security section for overnight stays
6. Charging solutions for every type of electric vehicle
7. Bathrooms

The problem is, I have no business acumen nor the capital needed to invest in such an ambitious venture. Any ideas on how I could get started?

You could start small with Tesla destination chargers. If you find a business willing to host they will give you the equipment. I did this for a hotel and restaurant in the area and their equipment was top notch.

 

[Tiger]

See also Google Maps Now Includes EV Charging Station Info - Tesla Motors Club

Maybe it could be useful for some integrations.

 

[Tozz]

Personally, I suspect that EV charging stations are going to move to more of a gas station model in the not so distant future and chargers at places like supermarkets and movie theaters are going to go away.

I'm from Europe, so things might be different here, but I do not think that is the case. I think gas stations will disappear. There is a market for "EV Gas Stations", as we have for example with Fastned, Tesla Superchargers and IONITY (Europe's version of Electrify America). But those are all DC-fastcharging stations along highway routes designed for roadtrips. Except for maybe Tesla they charge absurd rates

For regular charging I believe there will be charging facilities at eg. parking garages, hotels, shops, restaurants, etc, etc. The reason for this is that there is easy money to be made. Commercial power is about 7 cents/kWh. Average rate for public charge stations is around 30 ct/kWh. Might not make you rich overnight, but it can mean a couple hundred bucks of additional income for the restaurant/hotel/shop/whatever. Especially if your place is big and offer lots of charging stations.

Besides the income for the place owner it's also handy for me as a driver. For example, we went to a restaurant 200 kilometers away a week ago (2 hour drive) and I was able to charge at 11 kW (AC) for 3 hours at the restaurant. That extra 33 kWh that I charged was enough to get me back home. Otherwise I would have required to stop at a SuC.

 

[Anjumhameed]

before starting a vehicle charging business, you have to be familiar with your locality where you want to start the business, i.e there are enough electric vehicles who would come to you .

 

[Tiger]

Can you believe this?

 

[gabriela]

before starting a vehicle charging business, you have to be familiar with your locality where you want to start the business, i.e there are enough electric vehicles who would come to you .

totally agree with you

 

[franklee]

The idea should be unique if you want to have some profit. I would better take a loan like that Payday Advance | PaydayLoan.network and make up my mind into the other direction. It is obvious that electrical cars can be a source of good profit. I wish I could be younger for that