[ac29]

The gross margins on EV chargers are likely pretty good as you say. But is there any evidence that these networks actually turn a net profit? These charging stations are very expensive to install and require ongoing maintenance/repairs.

The only charging network I know that is publicly traded is Chargepoint, and they have never turned a profit. In fact, their losses have increased as revenue has gone up. But, they are not a perfect example since their chargers are independently operated with prices set by the operator (with prices anywhere from free to significantly in excess of retail electricity prices).

[mattmaroon]

I think the answer has to be yes. They can easily pull in a few grand a month from the electricity. They generally exist rent-free. They don’t cost that much to install.

Maintenance doesn’t seem to be even half the issue for Tesla that it is for the rest but they could also just care more. I suspect it’s both.

[ac29]

> They don’t cost that much to install.

DC fast chargers are >$100k to install in the US.

[NotSammyHagar]

tesla has a factory that makes their chargers and equipment. They have standardized chargers, mass production can lead to refining the design, fixing common pain points. Most other companies seem to have taken the pc organ bank strategy where they made it out of almost careless combination of available parts - EA is the poster child.

I'm sure careful people tried to make a plan but they all ended up being such a dumpster fire of failures and low quality with no visible plan to fix them it's hard to understand.

[mattmaroon]

Yeah, I assume their chargers are better engineered than the competition. And also that since they've got a national footprint they're better able to respond when one goes down. They DO go down, I've seen it, but with EA it seems there's always at least one inoperable in any bank of them.

You'd think now that Tesla is under 50% of EV sales here (and under 20% globally) that this problem will be solved soon, but I really don't know.