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methodology

16 articles filed under methodology.

methodology

Reading a utility tariff sheet before modeling a site

Filed tariff sheets decide a charging site's biggest operating cost, and they don't read like price lists. The six fields that matter, the riders that hide in the back pages, and real examples from 86 modeled schedules.

5 min read

returns

LCFS credits: what they add per kWh, net of commission

Clean-fuel credits are quoted gross, at a headline rate per kWh. Between the quote and the bank account sit an aggregator commission, a registration gap, and a payment lag that together take roughly a fifth of the line.

5 min read

costs

The 30C credit after its sunset: what a model still does with it

The federal charging-property credit terminated for property placed in service after June 30, 2026. What that means for sites already energized, for sites still in construction, and for the basis-reduction rule that outlives the credit itself.

5 min read

costs

What a flat blended electricity rate hides

Pricing a charging site at one blended $/kWh is the most common shortcut in Supercharger pro formas. Across the filed tariff library the true figure varies 8.5×, and demand charges are more than 40% of the bill in most territories.

6 min read

costs

What a Supercharger site costs to build, by stall count

Hardware, install, contingency, and the one-time sales tax — priced per stall and totalled for 4, 8, 12, and 20 stalls, with the state-by-state tax spread that moves the same build by six figures.

5 min read

costs

PG&E's BEV-2 rate, explained for charging-site hosts

California's biggest utility bills DC fast charging through subscription blocks instead of a classic demand charge. What BEV-2-S actually charges, how the pieces interact, and what the model does with each one.

5 min read

methodology

The taxes a charging site pays that aren't income tax

Sales tax on the build, property tax on the equipment, per-kWh excise on every sale, and percent-of-revenue levies — the four tax families a charging site pays before income tax enters the picture, with the filed rates the model carries.

5 min read

methodology

The energy loss factor: why the meter bills more kWh than cars receive

A charging site sells the kWh cars receive but buys the kWh the utility meters — and the gap between the two runs through almost every line of the cost model. What the loss factor is, where it shows up, and what a 12% default does to a year of numbers.

5 min read

costs

Demand charges, explained for Supercharger hosts

Electricity has two prices: one for how much you use, one for your single highest 15-minute spike. For DC fast charging the second one decides the outcome — and it varies 10× by utility.

6 min read

methodology

When the business itself is taxed: five states, three new cost seams

Washington, Ohio, Utah, New Hampshire, and Kentucky join the covered set — and each forced a cost the model could not express before: sales tax on installation labor, a percent-of-revenue charging tax, and a state income tax on the entity itself.

5 min read

supercharger

Is hosting a Tesla Supercharger profitable?

The five numbers that answer it — payback, NPV, IRR, cash-on-cash, upfront capital — and the handful of inputs that actually move them.

6 min read

methodology

What it costs to host a Tesla Supercharger

Every cost line the underwriting engine models for a Supercharger for Business site: hardware, install, utility upgrades, electricity under 85 filed tariffs, rent, taxes, and hidden fees.

7 min read