The site
Connectors that can charge a car at the same time.
7.2 for a typical Level 2, 50-350 for DC fast.
Your estimate after the site is known. Utilization is the number that decides the answer.
Level 2 is often 10-20, DC fast 25-45.
New sites take time to be found by drivers.
1 means no ramp.
Upfront cost
From a quote. Also drives yearly maintenance.
Labor, trenching, pads, signage, permits.
Service upgrade, transformer, switchgear, once for the site.
Anything you are sure of, after checking program rules and dates. Zero if unsure.
Price and running costs
What a driver pays per kWh, year 1.
Your utility's energy rate for this account.
Billed on the highest 15-minute power in the month. Zero if your tariff has none for EV charging.
How many ports run flat out at the same moment in your worst quarter hour.
If load management caps the site, enter it. Zero means no cap.
Back-end, app listing, support.
Zero if you own the site.
Insurance, lease, cleaning, signage.
Time and money
Hardware often has a 8-12 year life; nothing is left over at the end.
Your cost of capital or the return you could earn elsewhere.
Every figure on the page is a placeholder until you replace it.
Result
Questions site hosts and operators ask
How much does an EV charging station make?
It depends almost entirely on utilization: how many sessions each port serves per day. Revenue is kWh sold times price; against it sit energy, demand charges, card fees, network fees and maintenance. A busy DC fast site can earn a healthy margin per kWh, while the same site at two sessions a day usually loses money to fixed costs. Enter your own figures to see where yours falls and what utilization breaks even.
What are demand charges and why do they matter for EV charging?
Many commercial tariffs bill a monthly fee per kW on the highest short-interval power draw, whatever the energy used. Four 150 kW chargers can set a peak of several hundred kW in one quarter hour and be billed for it all month. At low utilization this fixed bill dominates; the tool shows demand charges as a share of revenue and how NPV changes if the rate were lower or higher.
What is a good payback period for a charging station?
There is no universal answer. Hosts that count the chargers as an amenity may accept a longer payback than an operator selling energy for profit. The tool reports simple payback, net present value at your discount rate and internal rate of return, so you can compare with your own hurdle.
Level 2 or DC fast charging?
Level 2 costs far less per port and has little or no demand charge, so it can pay back at low utilization where cars park for hours. DC fast charging costs far more but sells more energy per port per hour, and depends on high utilization and on demand-charge tariffs. Use the two presets as a starting point and replace every figure with your own quotes.
Are the incentives included?
Only the grant and rebate dollars you type in. Federal, state and utility programs change, have deadlines and conditions, and some have ended. Check current rules before counting on one; the tool does not know them.
Is this financial or engineering advice?
No. It is arithmetic on figures you type. It does not model taxes, depreciation, financing, utility tariff details, grid capacity or site engineering. Get quotes from installers and your utility and speak to a qualified advisor before committing capital.
Not decided
Whether your utilization estimate is right, taxes and depreciation, financing cost, utility tariff structure beyond a flat demand charge (ratchets, time-of-use, EV-specific rates), grid capacity and interconnection timing, equipment failure and replacement, low-carbon or other credit revenue, advertising revenue, vehicle mix and charging speed, and local permitting. Utilization is treated as the same every day of the year and the demand charge as fixed once the site is mature.
Related tools: the solar panel cleaning quote planner, the EV charger installation bid calculator (for installers pricing the job), the laundromat machine payback calculator and the car wash membership calculator. Also: the demand charge interval analyzer (reads your utility interval data).