As part of the new EU AFIR legislation, large numbers of charging stations for heavy duty vehicles (HDVs) need to be built along both highways as well as in urban areas. Assessing the business case for these charging stations is a challenge due to the uncertainties around the projected uptake of electric trucks, the electricity prices and costs of hardware, amongst other parameters. Markets around the world are faced with much of the same challenges.

On behalf of the International Zero-emission Vehicle Alliance (ZEV Alliance), Cenex developed a free-to-use Excel tool to assess the business case for public charging infrastructure for heavy duty vehicles. The tool provides an assessment over a ten-year period (the assumed lifespan of the chargers), providing common financial metrics for the project. It produces a cashflow statement and cost breakdowns along with charts of financial performance on a year-by-year basis.

Besides the standard scenario where chargers use electricity from the grid, the tool offers scenarios including photovoltaic (PV) arrays and batteries. Local PV generation profiles are calculated, and the electricity is used for charging vehicles, with excess PV power being exported to the grid. When batteries are included, the excess PV power is stored in the battery, which is also used to reduce the peak power consumption from the site.

The model is pre-populated with data from the Netherlands, Canada, China and India. For these countries, inputs for the model (like electricity prices and charger costs) are already filled in the model, making assessing your project easier, faster and evidence-based. Of course, it is still possible to use your own more detailed inputs, if you have them available, to tailor the model to your situation.

The model is targeted for users in the public and private sector who need to perform detailed financial planning of HDV charging at public locations. However, the tool is flexible enough to be used for a wide range of scenarios, from low power public charging to megawatt charging on depots.

The tool and the user guide are available by clicking the buttons to the right. Additionally, you can follow a tutorial where Greg Payne, Principle Technical Specialist at Cenex, goes through the model with step-by-step explanations.

On Thursday 7th December, Cenex in collaboration with ICF, hosted the Understanding the Business Case for EV Charging Infrastructure Webinar to share knowledge and insights into new research conducted on behalf of the ZEV Alliance. The webinar discussed the Understanding the Business Case for EV Charging Infrastructure Report and the free-to-use Excel tool for commercial vehicle electric charging infrastructure including market analysis and insights.

To view the webinar, please click here.