We’re continuing our use case comparisons and are going to look at DC fast chargers today. How much does it cost to install DC fast charging?
Last time we looked at a carpet cleaning business that used 10 Level 2 chargers. We are trying to give real world examples, but also a good comparison for how much infrastructure costs change.
So I’m going to use the same number of chargers in the same location. Also, the same tool, the NREL EVI-Locate tool, so that we can figure out the cost of installing infrastructure.
For this exercise, I’m going to use an air conditioning business also located in Iowa. The AC business currently has 10 vehicles they’d like to transition to EV.
Just like last time, the first thing we need to do is figure out what vehicles would be best.
Vehicles
It’s really important to pick the right vehicle, and with so many vehicles to choose from, that can be hard. The main things to focus on are your daily route and how you need to use the vehicle.
Route
The AC business services 60 mile range, which means 120 miles round trip, plus some extra driving from house to house.
They also run 24 hours a day. They have regularly scheduled clients during normal business hours. And then run on-call after hours services. Which means they need a vehicle that will accept DC fast charging.
If they don’t plan on depleting the battery all the way, they need at least 20% wiggle room. So they actually need a vehicle that has at least a 160 mile range or higher.
Vehicle Needs
Air conditioning units can be large. They need to be able to carry units, compressors, and other parts. Which means they need a vehicle with enough space to hold all of that.
I can go to the CommercialEVs.com site and search for vehicles with a 160 mile range or higher and see which ones will work for my vehicle needs.
Vehicle Choice
The best vehicle for this use case is the Chevy Brightdrop. The Brightdrop is a cargo van with plenty of storage space. It has a 272 mile range, which means they will be able to service multiple clients within their territory on one charge.
Chargers
Now we need to figure out which charger is best. We know it’s going to be a DC fast charging, but there are many to choose from.
Dwell Time
They run during normal business hours, but also have on-call services. Vehicles don’t normally sit very long. Sometimes for an hour or less. This means we’re going to need a high powered DC fast charger.
DC Fast Charger Choice
The FLO Smart 100 kW DC fast charger is perfect for this. It can charge the Chevy Brightdrop in approximately 1 hour.
DC Fast Charging Installation Costs
Now that we know what charger to use for the site, we can use the NREL EVI-Locate tool to estimate how much it will cost to install the infrastructure. The first thing is to define the site, you can use an address and it will pull up a satellite view of the address.
Next, you can select what types of chargers to use. It is all generic, so for DC fast charging it will only let us put single chargers. Normally, dual port chargers would be installed. So that each charging pedestal can charge 2 vehicles.
Installing single chargers can be slightly more costly, but there are dual port DC fast chargers. Just none available in this tool, which is ok. It will still give us a good ballpark of how much installation will cost.
Now we’ll add those 10 DC fast chargers to our site. It’s important when installing chargers to pick the right location for chargers. But since this is just a modeling tool, we can pick any location.
Just know the location might change later and this doesn’t replace the actual design plan done by an engineering and design firm. That will need to be done before installing the chargers.
In order to give a full picture of cost, I said yes that the site needed a 480v transformer and service panel. It’s very likely that for DC fast chargers they will need to install those.
The tool will then generate where the electric lines will be and start estimating the costs for the project.
It gives you costs in a couple of different ways and breaks everything out for you, including charger costs.
There is a donut chart that shows all the different areas for the costs of installation. This can help you see a full picture of what types of costs are associated with the installation.
This bar chart will break down the costs into what the specific costs are for each part of the project.
They also include the written costs. It’s a price for each item in the project and how many of each item will be needed.
Recap
This project is estimated to cost $1,023,400 to install. That includes everything to get the chargers and install them at the property.
Now this is only an estimate, but it gives a good picture of what goes into installation and a ballpark number of what it will cost.
Now you can use this tool to figure out your own project and see what would be best for you. As always, we are happy to help if you have any questions.
