Study Shows Average Cost of Electric Vehicle Charger Installations

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.