A mobile EV charging service does not mainly sell electricity. It sells arrival: a vehicle, an energy source and a crew reaching a car that cannot reach a charger. That is why its price cannot be read off a per-kWh board — the energy is often the smallest line, while travel, refill time and utilisation decide whether a job earns. The stack below is what a service prices from, out of its own job log.
Key Takeaways
- A mobile charging service sells arrival: travel, refill time and utilisation usually outweigh the energy line.
- Price from the job log — vehicle, energy source, crew and dispatch costs, allocated over jobs served.
- Per-kWh pricing is a regulated basis in many markets: confirm the metering and resale position before adopting it.
- A portable charger is equipment fed by a site’s supply, not a mobile service — EVDANCE offers the former, not the latter.
What the Service Is — and Is Not
A mobile charging service brings the charge to the car: a battery-buffered or generator-carrying unit, taken out for roadside top-ups, fleet gap cover, events or sites awaiting grid works. AAA has published on mobile charging as a roadside service category. It is not a fixed site, and it is not a portable charger: a portable draws from the site’s supply and remains equipment, not a service, as our explainer on what an EV mobile charger is distinguishes. EVDANCE makes stationary and portable chargers and offers no mobile charging service and no vehicle-mounted unit.
The Cost Stack
| Cost driver | Fixed or per job | How it enters the price |
|---|---|---|
| Vehicle and charging unit | Fixed — capital, insurance, upkeep | Spread over the jobs the log shows the unit serves; idle units raise every job’s share |
| Energy and refill | Per job | Energy at the operator’s own supply cost — plus refill or recharge time out of service |
| Crew time, including travel | Per job | The drive to the car is part of the product. Jobs priced without travel are priced at a loss |
| Booking, dispatch and payment | Per transaction | Platform and payment costs on the operator’s own contracts, per completed job |
| Permits, insurance class and metering position | Fixed, per market | Confirmed per market before any pricing shape is chosen — it decides which shapes are available |
Pricing Shapes and Their Conditions
- Per-call fee, energy included or itemised. Fits scattered demand — the rescue pattern. The fee, not the energy, carries the travel, set from the job log’s distances and times.
- Subscription or retainer for fleets and sites. The customer buys cover: a response promise and a number of call-outs. Price it only on a promise the roster can keep — a response time you cannot staff is a refund with a date on it.
- Per-kWh delivered. Available only where the market’s metering and resale position allows billing per kWh — confirmed with the local regulator or utility before adoption. Many services price the call or the contract instead.
- Event and contract day rates. Crew and unit committed for a window. The utilisation risk inside the window is the operator’s, and the rate says so.
The Fixed-Site Comparison
Customers compare the service against installing hardware, so know that arithmetic.
For scale, the U.S. DOE cites public Level 2 at about $3,500 equipment plus $2,500 installation per connector — a fixed point a fleet can charge at daily, which is why recurring demand at one address prices toward fixed hardware over time. The mobile service’s ground is demand that is scattered, temporary or urgent. EVDANCE’s portable range serves the middle case — a site that has supply but no fixed installation — in models such as the EV-ACS3205PE (22 kW three-phase, CEE five-pin plug, Type 2, IP66), with the range on our products page and trade supply via the reseller and distributor programme. Service operators can put territory questions to us via contact us.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does a mobile charging call typically cost?
No sourced typical price exists. A call’s price is built from the stack above — travel, crew, energy, refill time and the unit’s utilisation — all from the operator’s own job log. A rate quoted without that log is a guess.
Can a mobile service charge per kWh?
Only where the local rules allow billing on a per-kWh basis, with the metering accuracy that basis requires. That position varies by market and is confirmed with the regulator or utility before the pricing shape is adopted — the same discipline as fixed-site fee-setting.
Mobile service or fixed chargers: how should a fleet choose?
From its own call pattern. Recurring demand at one address prices toward fixed hardware, using the DOE-cited installed costs for scale.
Scattered, temporary or emergency demand is the service’s ground. Many fleets end with both — fixed points for the routine, a contract for the exceptions.
Related Reading
- How to Start a Mobile EV Charging Business
- What Is an EV Mobile Charger?
- Can You Charge an EV With a Portable Battery or Power Bank?
