When a municipality or a business company wants to install a public charging station infrastructure, the question for possible financing options is raised. Due to the volume of investment cost, which can in some cases exceed 100.000,- Euros, several financing options should be taken into account and will be discussed in this article.

Subsidies for e-mobility infrastructure

The first option considers the usage of subsidies granted by the local government, the state or the European Union. In most cases, subsidy programmes aim to increase the amount of public charging infrastructure (and in this context strengthen the popularity of electric vehicles). They are usually limited with regards to certain technical parameters of the charging stations (amount and type of available charging plugs, minimum charging power etc.) and in some cases related to certain use cases, which are defined by the installation location of the charging station. With regards to the percentage of funding, up to 50% are possible, depending on the subsidy programme and the details. By trend, a higher charging capacity grants a higher funding rate.

Promotion of e-infrastructure

Another financing option takes marketing and advertising into account. Some public chargers are equipped with an integrated flatscreen which allows the potrayal of adverts, provided by local companies or business partners. By promoting the charging station to third-parties a part of the investment cost can be refunded and help to attract the popularity of the charging location itself.

Paid charging

The most often used financing option is the pay-off process by the charging stations themselves. If those chargers are operated by the owners themselves, the usage of self-defined tarrifs help to refund the investment costs. If charging stations are not operated by the owners, most often third-party companies deal with the operation process and are paid for this business by the owner. In those cases the tarrifs are either self-defined by the owners or provided by the operators. In both cases the charging station owners are paid for the charging processes if they deal with the energy purchase for themselves.