DCFC Economics: Small-Scale Public Access Fast Charging

[MyTH]

The charging cabinet itself is probably one of the cheapest parts of the installation.

Thanks for the perspective on what it's like to prepare and install a "real" DCFC station suitable for highway travelers. Yes, it's amazing how quickly the costs can escalate! I know it's easy to spend $1M on a project like this. My project is intentionally small-scale. With just one parking space and a budget in the $50k range, I wondered what was possible.

Site and installation costs are a huge consideration. When friends who are new to EV's ask me what's involved in getting a home charging station installed, I explain that it should cost around $500 to get a new 14-50 outlet in their garage and another $500 for Level 2 EVSE that plugs into it. Many EV's, including the MME, come with a 32A 240V charging cord, and if you happen to already have a suitable garage outlet (for an RV or a welder, perhaps), your total cost to install Level 2 charging at home could be $0.

50+ kW DCFC is different. You're not going to have 3-phase power available at your home, maybe not even on your street. In a small business plaza, you might have 3-phase power, but it's likely to be at only 208V and may not have the available capacity to support even an extra 62 kVA of load. For a small project, you might consider a step-up transformer to get from 208V to the 480 VAC input that your DCFC equipment requires, or you might get your power utility to install a new distribution transformer (usually the only option for a large DCFC) to go from High Voltage (typically around 13,000V) down to 480V.

The transformer and the charging station cabinet(s) will need to be installed on just the right type of concrete pad, set in the right type of gravel, connected to the right size conduit, buried in a trench of the right width and depth. A commercial DCFC project is nothing like installing that new outlet in your garage. Just to start talking to the power company about it, you're probably going to need an updated survey of your property, which takes weeks or months and costs thousands of dollars. They may require a utility easement, drafted by attorneys and publicly recorded, before agreeing to install any equipment (such as transformers, distribution lines, or utility poles), pursuant to the appropriate plans and permits.

Here in Massachusetts, the two big power companies (NationalGrid and Eversource) have a Make-Ready program whereby they will cover the site preparation costs for certain new EV charging installations, including DCFC. If our business were located one town over, we could take advantage of Make-Ready, but here in Littleton, there is a local municipal power company with no such offer. That's another reason Electrify America and EVgo have expressed reluctance to add stations in town. When Tesla came in and installed the 12-stall Supercharger last year, they just did it their way and paid for everything -- but again, I don't have that kind of budget.

Speaking of Tesla, a recent proposal to install V3 Superchargers in Texas suggests their per-stall equipment cost is around $40k. Wow! Their V2 Superchargers could deliver up to 150 kW per car through a thick beefy cable without liquid cooling, which sounds great. I did find a European company called REMA EV that makes CCS-1 connectors rated up to 400A without liquid cooling, further demonstrating it's possible, but none of the major DCFC equipment manufacturers seem to offer that.

If there were a bit more market pressure, the charging vendors would have better and cheaper products in the intermediate DCFC space. There's publicity around the high-end 350 kW units, and there's volume in the minimal 50 kW units, but not much attention paid to the middle. One manufacturer that looks really innovative and promising is Auto Enterprise. Unfortunately, they stopped answering my email after February 23. I think something is going on at their headquarters in Kharkiv, Ukraine that is disrupting their operations.

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