EVSE viable business model brainstorm

[DNAinaGoodWay]

From Wikipedia's, History of Filling Stations:

"The first places that sold gasoline/petrol were pharmacies, as a side business. The first gas/petrol station was the city pharmacy in Wiesloch, Germany, where Bertha Benz refilled the tank of the first automobile on its maiden trip from Mannheim to Pforzheim and back in 1888. The increase in automobile ownership after Henry Ford started to sell automobiles that the middle class could afford resulted in a greater demand for filling stations. The world's first purpose built gas station was constructed in St. Louis, Missouri in 1905 at 420 S. Theresa Avenue. The second gas station was constructed in 1907 by Standard Oil of California (now Chevron) in Seattle, Washington at what is now Pier 32. Reighard's gas station in Altoona, Pennsylvania claims that it dates from 1909 and is the oldest existing gas station in the United States. Early on, they were known to motorists as "filling stations". The first "drive-in" filling station, Gulf Refining Company, opened to the motoring public in Pittsburgh in 1913. Prior to this, automobile drivers pulled into almost any general or hardware store, or even blacksmith shops in order to fill up their tanks. On its first day, the station sold 30 gallons of gasoline at 27 cents per gallon. This was also the first architect-designed station and the first to distribute free road maps."

It didn't happen overnight, and I always like a little historical perspective.

So, we're at the dawn of real EV's, and our filling stations are currently at stores, parking areas, work, curbside, highways, restaurants, pharmacies, etc. etc, and of course, home sweet home.

Is there an emerging way to viably develop an EVSE network?

The UK has Zero Carbon World, a charity model.

eVgo has a monthly payment model.

ChargePoint and Blink, Etc make money on their service, and the host can charge or not as they wish.

Electric companies could set up networks as outlets to sell more power.

Cities could have combo parking meter/charge stations deployed with RFID payment.

What would be a reasonable mark up over kWh and maintenance cost?

L2 cheaper than L3?

There are no QC's here, so I'm in the dark. Do you pay for QC? Is there competition already?

How do you see this market developing?

 

[davewill]

My honest opinion? It will be a niche, at best. It's just too cheap and convenient to charge at home. Even multi-unit locations that are hard to charge at now will eventually get EVSEs because tenants will increasing insist on having it. By the time there are enough vehicles to cause the current business models to make profit, the batteries will get larger, making public charging less necessary. So, in the future...

• I see DCQC available on a pay per use or subscription basis. Since it will only be used for longer trips, and unusual driving days, we won't need so many of them.
• L2 available as a perq at the office, and at some retail businesses.
• L2 on a pay per use basis at certain locations where people need charging. The office, if the company won't provide it as a perq, or places like the airport, beach, amusement parks, etc... where people will have no choice. I suspect these EVSEs will be owned by the location and all the revenue will go to the venue, not the third party service companies.

It will never turn into the ubiquitous on every busy corner kind of thing that gas stations are.

 

[DaveinOlyWA]

i think that public charging will become a very viable business but need better EVs first. Right now, people pay 10-20 cents a mile in gas plus much higher maintenance fees.

so a 15 minute quick charge that can give you 30-40 miles of range could be worth as much as $8. Now a pay per use model would charge that much but eventually the way to go will be subscriptions for people who need it frequently. IOW, modeled like current parking fees.

sure, you might have cheaper stations (in less convenient locations) other stations provided free by businesses for shopping in their stores. Free charge sessions rewarded from points built up at Safeway (good reason to get rid of those gas stations!) etc.

the market for EVs is too far away to even begin to think that way and I think the free charging is a good way to encourage their use.

obtw; is there anyone here that regularly pays to charge their EV?

 

[smkettner]

Market is either government paid installation or marketing/employment convenience or freebe.
I see no stand alone business model that can work.

 

[DaveinOlyWA]

I suspect it will be the power companies controlling them in the end or oil companies

 

[GaslessInSeattle]

the future of the EVSE? they will be free, via major grants. they will be there for security mostly, in tiny numbers compared to today's gas stations. virtually all charging will happen in one's home with much larger batteries than we see typically today... there is no viable public charging business to be had in the long run, IMHO, takes too long, costs too much.

 

[SSS]

Exactly, so why not do this as a co-op of EV drivers and either private or public sponsors within a huge metropolitan area (SMSA)? Eventually a network allowing driving to all points within that SMSA would exist. Eventually, the SMSAs could build links to other SMSAs within the state, adding remote outpost as needed.
Once the network is up and running, let the big corporate guys or govt sponsor have it, providing they not cut the network.

 

[DaveinOlyWA]

My POV tells me that any thing that replaces a service valued at $80-300 a month will have a viable business model in one way or another

 

[TonyWilliams]

Long term, I think there will be lots of charging stations, much like gasoline stations. I don't see government freebies and businesses giving away this valuable (and expensive) commodity long term.

Yes, batteries get bigger, range longer, etc, but the need for on demand recharging will increase as the utility of the EV increases.

I think ultimately it will be a model very similar to gas stations, where the profit isn't in the gasoline, but the snacks and Coke. Some folks here confuse that with free charging, but it won't be free any more than gasoline is free... they just won't make a ton of money on it.

That means the $5-$15 typical fees for quick charging. When a standard model emerges, large companies will want to monopolize the market, just like they do with electric power and gasoline today.