Recharging costs

[gwatpe]

I have a "ChargePoint" card and decided to check my PHEV would accept a recharge from one of the ManeKe fixed point stations. These are 15A. Was rudely shocked at the energy cost. Came up with $4.20 per hour, or part thereof. Petrol is soooo cheap compared to this. Almost seems like there is an effort to discourage drivers from recharging.

 

[maby]

The trouble is that it is very difficult to come up with a cost model that makes a privately operated charging network commercially viable. Rapid chargers cost many thousands of pounds to install and a lot to maintain. And a car takes half an hour or more to recharge - charging stations are not like petrol pumps which can serve a dozen or more cars per hour. What occupancy can you hope for on a charging point? I suspect that during the day 50% is optimistic and over night you are unlikely to recharge more than one car. Many public charging points are probably serving as few as half a dozen cars per day - the price has to be high simply to cover the installation costs - forget about making a profit! It's even worse on a 15A charger like the one you describe - three hours to charge - I think you would be lucky to get more than two users per day.

When Source London was being put out to contract, my company could have put in a bid. I did a quick rough model and came to the conclusion that there was no way we should touch it.