Set the driver price from your own cost stack, not from a published average. U.S. commercial electricity averages 14.53 cents per kWh (EIA), but that average is a reference point, not an input: the numbers that decide your margin are on your own utility bill — the energy rate, the demand charge your peak triggers — and in your own platform and payment contracts. The price sits on top of the full stack.
Key Takeaways
- Price from your own stack: energy, demand charges, platform and payment costs, maintenance and site lines.
- The 14.53¢/kWh EIA figure is a national average for orientation — your bill is the input that matters.
- Demand charges follow the site’s peak, not its sales; a price built on energy alone fails in busy months.
- Per-kWh billing permission and metering accuracy are local confirmations, held in writing before launch.
The Cost Stack, Layer by Layer
| Cost layer | Where you read it | How it enters the price |
|---|---|---|
| Energy per kWh | Your utility bill and tariff schedule, at your selling hours | The floor of the stack: every kWh a driver buys was bought by you first |
| Demand charges | The demand line on the bill, set by the site’s highest draw in the billing period | A monthly sum that does not follow sales; spread over kWh sold, it falls per kWh as utilisation rises and jumps when sessions coincide |
| Platform and payment costs | Your platform and payment contracts | Per session, per kWh or as a percentage, as your contracts state; it comes off before anything counts as margin |
| Maintenance and repairs | Your service records: scheduled visits, callouts, wear parts | An operating line averaged from your own fault and visit history, not from a quoted benchmark |
| Site lines | Connectivity, insurance, bay upkeep, any host rent or revenue share | Fixed per month; with demand charges they set how much energy must sell before the site contributes anything |
Two layers behave differently, and the difference drives every pricing mistake. Energy scales with sales. Demand charges and site lines do not: they arrive in full in a quiet month, and the demand line can grow in a busy one if simultaneous sessions push the peak higher. A price built only on the energy layer looks profitable on paper and loses money in the months that matter.
From the Stack to a Price
Set the margin above the full stack, then choose the structure that carries it. If your tariff varies by hour, your stack varies by hour too — the scheduling side is covered in our guide to time-of-use tariffs and scheduling. Whether the price is quoted per kWh, per minute or per session is a separate decision, worked through in our explainer on how much charging stations charge; the stack has to hold under any of the three. One rule sits above the arithmetic: whether your market allows billing by energy at all, and what metering accuracy it must meet, is decided locally — confirm it with your utility or regulator, in writing, before the first paid session. Our explainer on smart meters for EV chargers covers what the metering does.
Hardware That Keeps the Energy Number Honest
Pricing against electricity costs depends on session energy you can trust: the charger meters and reports each session, and the platform you choose does the billing. The EV-AC03201T dual-connector AC station — two Type 2 connectors sharing up to 43 kW (22 kW per connector), OCPP 1.6J, RFID, IP54 — states the protocol a platform pairs with, and its touchscreen is a display, not a payment terminal. The EV-RHDC30K-L compact DC charger delivers 22 kW DC and also states OCPP 1.6J and IP54. EVDANCE, founded in 2011 with a 3-year standard warranty, offers no billing platform of its own; the pairing is confirmed per model, in writing. Operators building a priced site can start from our commercial EV charging range or contact us.
Frequently Asked Questions
Should I set my price from the national average electricity price?
No. The EIA’s 14.53 cents per kWh is a national commercial average — useful for orientation, useless as your cost. Your tariff decides: the energy rate at your selling hours plus the demand charge your peak sets. Price from your own bill.
Why did a busy month earn less than a quiet one?
Demand charges follow the peak, not the volume. If busy hours mean many sessions drawing at once, the demand line can rise faster than the energy margin grows. Carry the peak in the stack in advance, through price or scheduling, rather than discovering it on the bill.
Can I bill drivers per kWh anywhere?
Not automatically. In some markets only a licensed utility may sell electricity by measure; in others, per-kWh charging is permitted or carved out, usually with a metering-accuracy expectation. Treat both as pre-launch confirmations for your market, in writing.
Related Reading
- How Much Do EV Charging Stations Charge? Pricing Models Explained
- Will EV Charging Prices Come Down?
- Is an EV Charging Station Business Profitable?
- Smart Charging and Time-of-Use Tariffs: How Scheduling Cuts EV Charging Costs
