How to start a EV charging business (think gas station, but for EVs)?

If one were to be forward thinking I would either do something similar to a buccees and put the stores at locations between major cities.

Or I would find shopping centers/strip malls that have a few restaurants and shopping stores and see what it would take to get a charger there.

However much like gas stations don't think there's much of a profit in the "fuel" sales, so would either need to be the owner of the business, come up with a membership model, or find a way to convince the business owners to subsidize the cost based on the potential increased volume of customers.

How are you going to compete with gas station owners who just install EV charging stations?

They already own the best real estate for EVs.

Not only that, if the growth is what you think it is, everyone will turn into a "gas station". You are already seeing all new hotels have free EV charging spots. It won't be long before Target, Walmart, etc start putting them in.

Not a great risk to reward trade off in my opinion.

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I want the business to look just like a gas station, but will be purely for EVs. Does Electrify America or EvGo or Chargepoint have a franchise model one could sign up for?

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One of the problems with the convenience store model for EVs is that it is not convenient to charge them. EVs don’t charge the same way people fill their vehicles with gas. One takes about two-three minutes. One takes 30 minutes to hours. So, you can run 100s of cars through eight lane filling stations with gas over an hour, whereas you will run eight-16 EVs through the charging stations. You are going to need to find a way to up the volume if that is your plan. You are also goi g to have to compete with subsidized charging stations. The faster chargers are much more expensive and going to cost between $65-$100k each, so 10-20 bay charging station stores is going to be cost prohibitive.

The technology is going to have to improve drastically, and it will, before that model is profitable. In the meantime, multitasking for travelers is going to be necessary. Restaurants, gyms, or some other function.

Car towing businesses, portable electronic chargers for people that lost battery power on the road and battery refurbishing shops are all businesses rhat will have a need.

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this? I want the business to look just like a gas station, but will be purely for EVs.

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I don’t think you’ll make any money directly off of EV charging, and I don’t see people hanging out at gas stations while their cars charge. I would think the best way would be a strip mall concept where the parking lot is basically a ton of EV chargers, then you lease out storefronts. I could see that being attractive to store owners having a captive audience for 30 min to 1 hour. That would require a lot more capital than a gas station though, lol

You’re gonna be screwed when they inevitably move to hydrogen fuel cells to power all the EVs vs electricity to charge the batteries via charging stations.

Toyota is all in on hydrogen vs plug in EVs

Partner up with an established entity along the major instates: Burger King, Taco Bell, etc..

When they stop to charge for 45-60 min, they will eat.

Monetizing EV and ancillary streams of cash are the trick. Many companies are building for scale now. EV business is a money destroyer right now.

In Baton Rouge, Tesla has a charging station behind Trader Joe’s and a 2nd location being built on Highland/I10 behind a CircleK/Church’s Chicken.

Plenty of things in those areas to do.

I believe a 3rd may go up in Gonzales/Prairieville.

Charge points can and will be installed at groceries, coffee shops, libraries, even massage parlors.

Low barriers to entry. Better think through your CVP.