📱 Best Platforms
ChargePoint, EVgo, Tesla Destination Charging
📖 The Hustle
As EV adoption accelerates, charging stations at hotels, restaurants, and shopping centers are becoming the new vending machines. Buy and install 2-4 Level 2 chargers ($2,500-$6,000 each installed) at a hotel, restaurant, or retail plaza. Drivers pay $0.30-$0.50 per kWh via the ChargePoint or EVgo network app, and you earn 70-80% of the revenue after network fees. A hotel with 2 chargers used 4 hours daily each at $0.40/kWh generates about $350 monthly. Federal and state incentives can cover 30-50% of installation costs.
🚀 First Step
Check your state's EV charger rebate programs at your utility company's website, get a quote from ChargePoint for a commercial charger, and approach 3 hotels about hosting.
🔑 Keys to Success
- Stack federal, state, and utility rebates — the IRS 30C tax credit plus state incentives can cut your out-of-pocket installation cost by 40-60%
- Place chargers at destinations where people spend 2+ hours (hotels, movie theaters, malls), not quick stops — the longer they park, the more kWh they buy
- Partner with the property owner: you pay for equipment and installation, they provide the parking spot and electricity, and you split revenue 70/30
🛠 Tools & Resources: ChargePoint, EVgo, Tesla Destination Charging, DOE Alternative Fuels Data Center, local electricians