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Install Your Own. Earn The Revenue.
For shopping centres, hotels, accommodation providers and commercial sites that want to turn a section of carpark into a revenue stream. Charging WA designs, installs and supports the whole setup — hardware, software, payments and ongoing service — right here in WA.
Revenue from a public charger comes down to two things: how fast it delivers power, and how many drivers it serves. Here’s what the numbers look like in WA right now.
A slow AC charger running all day can be “busy” and still earn a fraction of what a DC fast charger earns. AC units deliver power at one-fifth or one-sixth the rate of DC. Speed of energy delivered is what drives revenue — not session count alone.
Not every site works. The best-performing locations have natural dwell time and something for drivers to do while they wait. Here’s what works and what doesn’t.
Shopping centres — drivers park for an hour to shop, plug in, walk away, come back to a topped-up car
Hotels and motels — ideal for overnight AC charging while guests sleep
Sites with 30–45 minutes of natural dwell time
Locations near food, retail or activity
Petrol stations — drivers are in and out in five minutes, won’t sit for 30
Sites with no food, retail or activity nearby
Anywhere a driver wouldn’t naturally spend 20+ minutes
Hidden or hard-to-access locations with no signage
Not every site works. The best-performing locations have natural dwell time and something for drivers to do while they wait. Here’s what works and what doesn’t.
| Charger Type | Speed | Best For | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| AC (11kW / 22kW) | Slow | Hotels, overnight parking | Not recommended for high-turnover public use |
| DC 50–60kW | Fast | Minimum spec for serious public charging | Good entry point |
| DC 120kW | Very fast | High-traffic shopping centres | Sweet spot for single-bay sites |
| DC 180kW | Very fast, dual bay | Premium sites with two-car simultaneous charging | Best ROI per unit footprint |
A 180kW charger needs 250 amps three-phase power. Many sites don’t have that. Power upgrades through Western Power can be slow and expensive — sometimes adding $10k+ and months of delay to a project. Matching the charger spec to your existing power supply is usually smarter than over-speccing and waiting for an upgrade.
The same charger with the same output can cost anywhere from $60,000 to $120,000 installed. The hardware isn’t the variable — the infrastructure is. Here’s what drives the cost.
For full detail on our installation process, site assessment and ongoing support, visit our Commercial EV Charger Installation page.
Once the charger is installed, the day-to-day operation runs itself. Here’s how the money moves.
Tariffs are set and changed by you, anytime, through the Exploren dashboard. Choose what suits your site:
Visibility is most of the job. Two things drive utilisation: being listed where drivers look, and being visible at the site.
PlugShare — automatic listing
Exploren app — automatic listing
Google Maps — listed where applicable
Driver-facing pricing, speed and availability shown in real time
Paint or wrap the wall behind the charger with “EV Fast Charging” branding
Call out the kW speed (e.g. “150kW Fast Charging”)
Add bay markings and clear signage from carpark entry
Make the chargers visible from the road if possible
A look at some of the public charging installations we’ve delivered across WA.
It depends heavily on the site, but for context: a busy DC fast charger in a high-traffic shopping centre can deliver around $210 per day in profit (20–25 sessions, 25–30 kWh per session, at a 30c/kWh margin). The busiest sites in Perth are bringing in over $10,000 per month. Slower AC chargers earn less even when busy, because they deliver power at one-fifth to one-sixth the speed.
Shopping centres, hotels with overnight stays, and any location where drivers naturally spend 30 minutes or more with something to do. Petrol stations and quick-stop sites generally don’t work — drivers won’t sit there for half an hour.
Typically 4 to 8 years, depending mostly on infrastructure cost. Sites with power close to the install point pay back fastest. Sites needing major trenching or power upgrades take longer.
Yes. Through the Exploren dashboard you can set a flat per-kWh rate, a plug-in fee plus per-kWh, or time-of-day pricing. You can change tariffs anytime.
Drivers pay via the Exploren app. Exploren processes payments throughout the month, then pays you a single lump sum at month-end with a full reconciliation. No invoicing or collection on your side.
For serious public use, 50kW DC is the minimum. 120–180kW is the sweet spot — but only if your site has the three-phase power to support it. AC chargers (11kW or 22kW) are generally too slow for high-turnover public charging.
Currently, no specific WA state or federal grants exist for private operators installing public chargers. If that changes, we let our clients know.
Yes, but the closer to existing power, the lower the cost. Long cable runs and trenching through carparks or concrete can double the install cost — so siting matters as much as hardware selection.
Book a site assessment with our local Perth team. We’ll look at your power supply, traffic patterns and site layout, then give you a realistic picture of what the installation would cost and what it could earn.
