01Tool
Charging site ROI calculator
Most charging business plans project revenue. This one works backwards: what utilisation does the site need to cover its fixed costs? If the location cannot plausibly reach that number, no pricing change will save it.
Result
7.1%
Break-even utilisation
At 8% utilisation this site covers its fixed costs and contributes ₹3,386 a month.
- Energy delivered
- 4,608 kWh/month
- Revenue
- ₹92,160/month
- Variable cost
- ₹13.46/kWh
- Contribution
- ₹6.54/kWh
- Demand charge
- ₹18,750/month
- Total fixed cost
- ₹26,750/month
- Monthly profit
- ₹3,386/month
- Payback
- 472 months (39.4 years)
Nothing you type here leaves your browser. This is a planning model, not financial advice — the demand-charge treatment in your state and your real utilisation will move these numbers more than anything else.
How to read it
Three things people get wrong
The model is simple. The assumptions are where the errors live.
Rated power is not delivered power
A 60kW DC charger rarely averages 60kW across a session. Vehicle taper, arrival state of charge and thermal derating mean 35–45kW is a more honest planning figure. Using the nameplate rating overstates revenue by roughly a third.
Demand charges do not scale with usage
They are levied on sanctioned or peak demand regardless of units sold. This is why an under-utilised DC site loses money at a healthy margin per unit — and why reducing sanctioned load through smart charging is a permanent monthly saving.
Utilisation is a property of the location
New public sites run 3–6%. Mature urban DC reaches 10–15%. If your break-even needs 18% and the location does not plausibly support it, the answer is a different site, not a different price.
Want the model behind this, with the assumptions written down instead of buried in cells? It is worked through in the CPO business toolkit.
Run your real numbers with us
Bring a site you are considering. We will go through the DisCom questions to ask and where the model is most likely to be wrong.