Where does the money of one session go?
A 150 kW charger at a DIY store. A driver pays 23.60 EUR for 40 kWh, ad hoc, by card.
Six companies have a share in that session, and the government one more.
The questionWhere does the 23.60 EUR go?
A composed split with stated assumptions: 19% VAT, 0.25 EUR per kWh for energy including grid fees and levies, and the charger's fixed costs spread at about 10% utilisation. Real splits differ by country, contract and site.
Most of it is not profit
- Taxes and levies take a large part before any company earns anything.
- Energy and are the largest running cost of a charging operator.
- The charger and site, paid off over years, take the next share; how large depends on how often the charger is used (stop 07).
- What remains is the margin, small per session and only meaningful at scale.
Why public charging costs more than home charging
At home, a driver pays for energy over an existing connection. A public charger adds the hardware, the grid connection, the site, the operation and the service. The IEA reports that prices for public slow charging can be up to 150% above residential electricity tariffs, and for public fast charging up to 240% above. Most drivers charge privately most of the time: worldwide, almost 75% of charging is at home or at work, and only about 10% at public fast chargers.
Check your understanding
3 questions. Answer all of them to complete this stop. Each answer explains itself.
Which is usually the largest running cost of a public charging operator?
Energy including grid fees and levies is paid for every kWh sold.
How much higher can public fast charging prices be than residential tariffs, according to the IEA?
The IEA reports up to 150% higher for public slow charging and up to 240% for public fast charging.
Why does a public charging price include more than the energy?
A public charger is infrastructure that someone financed and runs; the price covers it.
- Grid fee What a grid operator charges for the use of its grid; it is part of the electricity price and, for larger connections, often also depends on the highest power drawn. Glossary
- IEA: Global EV Outlook 2026: Electric vehicle charging. https://www.iea.org/reports/global-ev-outlook-2026/electric-vehicle-charging-chap-6-and-10. Checked 09 Oct 2026. Licence: CC BY 4.0.
- IEA: Global EV Outlook 2026: Electric vehicle charging. https://www.iea.org/reports/global-ev-outlook-2026/electric-vehicle-charging-chap-6-and-10. Checked 09 Oct 2026. Licence: CC BY 4.0.