Fact #910: February 1, 2016 Study Shows Average Cost of Electric Vehicle Charger Installations

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The EV Project and the ChargePoint America project were conducted for the Department of Energy by Idaho National Laboratory (INL). From 2011-2013 the project installed nearly 17,000 alternating current (AC) Level 2 charging stations for residential and commercial use and over 100 dual-port direct current (DC) fast chargers in 22 regions across the United States.

Results from this study show that DC fast charger installations were by far the most expensive, ranging from $8,500 to $50,000 per installation, though it is important to note that the DC fast chargers installed had dual ports as opposed to the single port level 2 charging stations. The cost for public level 2 charger installations ranged from about $600 to $12,660. Residential installations had the lowest average installation cost with a mean of $1,354 though individual installation costs ranged from just a few hundred dollars to as much as $8,000. The cost of installation varies greatly depending on the electrical requirements at the site and other factors such as permit and inspection fees.

Installation Costs of Electric Vehicle Charging Stations by Type, 2011-2013 (INL Study)

Graph showing installation costs of electric vehicle charging stations by type from 2011 to 2013.

Fact #910 Dataset

Supporting Information

Installation Costs of Electric Vehicle Charging Stations (INL Study)
Type of Charging StationMinimumMaximumMean
Residential Level 2A few hundred dollars$8,000$1,354
Workplace Level 2$624$5,960$2,223
Public Level 2$600$12,660$3,108
Blink DC Fast Charger$8,500$50,000$22,626

Sources: Idaho National Laboratory, Plugged In: How Americans Charge Their Electric Vehicles, INL/EXT-15-35584, 2015. Page 18.
Idaho National Laboratory, What were the Cost Drivers for Workplace Charging Installations? INL/MIS-15-35390, 2015, Page 2.

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