Business Models for Commercial EV Charging: Choosing the Right Approach

As a leading EV charger supplier and installer, we understand that choosing the wrong approach can limit profitability and scalability. Selecting the right business model for a public EV charging business depends on your site, budget, energy capacity and long-term commercial goals. In this blog, we’ll examine the different routes to market and the pros and cons of each.

Earn Extra Revenue with EV Charging

 

How Businesses Earn Revenue from EV Charging

Investing in EV chargers is an excellent way for businesses to earn revenue and boost their bottom line. Investors can be reasonably confident about consumer demand, but the business model they choose will determine their profitability. There are several options available:

• Loss Leader Model – offers free charging to attract drivers
• Cost Recovery – sets a usage fee to cover the cost of charge points
• Profit Making – set a usage fee that covers costs and generates profit
• Fully Funded – a network operator funds the installation of the charge points, and takes a percentage of the revenue

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The Pros and Cons

Let’s evaluate the pros and cons of each.

Business Model	Who Owns the Chargers	PROS	CONS	Best Suited For
Loss-leader model	Site owner	Attract and retain more EV charging customers by offering the lowest prices	Suffer the costs of the electricity and investment	Businesses with a typical dwell time of more than 45 minutes Retail, hospitality and leisure sites
Cost recovery model	Site owner	Attract and retain more EV charging customers than with profit-making models Allows for some payback of electricity and investment costs	High upfront capital cost, ongoing responsibility for maintenance, software and uptime Less attractive to customers than with loss leader model	Businesses that want to cover their operational and capital costs without generating large profits on EV charging Suited to commercial property owners, landlords, workplaces and other sites with a captive market
Profit making	Site owner	Attract and retain EV charging customers based on surrounding attractions Highest long-term revenue potential	High upfront capital cost, ongoing responsibility for maintenance, software and uptime More expensive EV charge prices than other models	Commercial businesses in high traffic locations. Dedicated infrastructure and utility companies Fleet operators
Fully Funded / Lease	Charging provider	No capital or operational costs to the business	Reduced control over pricing and operations	Sites wanting to attract and retain customers, residents or employees and enhance brand sustainability

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Top Tips for EV Charger Investment

• Revenue stacking is crucial – generating multiple revenue streams through subscriptions, pay-per-go, and increased retail traffic protects EV charge point investment.
• Network scale is critical – the more charge points an operator develops, the greater the potential to deliver multiple services, generate more revenue streams and achieve economies of scale for maintenance and other discounts.
• Solve experience anxiety – address customer experience anxiety by understanding customer habits and charging scenarios.

At VPG EV Solutions, we specialise in providing the latest electric vehicle chargers designed to meet the needs of businesses and the growing EV owner population.

Unlock Revenue with EV Charging

 

Why Choose Vital EV for Chargers, Installation and Maintenance?

At VPG EV Solutions, we take an end-to-end approach, working with customers from initial design and equipment selection through installation, commissioning, and ongoing support.

• Experienced team
• Forecourt & commercial experts
• One trusted partner
• Fully compliant installations
• Dynamic load balancing shares available power between EV chargers in real time
• Occulus charger fault monitoring for immediate response
• Flexible service and maintenance contracts
• Finance available

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Key Takeaways

• EV charging creates new revenue streams
• The right business model depends on site type, footfall and power capacity
• Longer dwell times boost on-site spending
• Fully funded and lease models reduce upfront costs
• Scalable charging infrastructure future-proofs sites
• Combining business models can maximise flexibility and revenue
• Strategic charger locations encourage destination charging