Every charging network eventually discovers that its sites are not equally good — usually about eighteen months in, when the ones that were signed enthusiastically are still doing two sessions a day. Site quality is the highest-variance decision in the business and the one most often made on relationships rather than evidence.
The three that override everything
1. Dwell time that already exists
People will not wait somewhere in order to charge; they will charge somewhere they were already waiting. A site where the median visitor stays 40 minutes for their own reasons — a food court, a cinema, a transit interchange, a hospital — outperforms a better-located site with nothing to do.
2. Electrical headroom
A site with an existing sanction you can share is worth substantially more than one requiring a new connection, because the demand charge and the connection cost are the two biggest fixed items in the model. Ask for the last three months of the host’s electricity bills before signing anything.
3. Unobstructed, visible bays
A charger in the basement’s third level, behind a boom barrier, next to the goods lift, will underperform an identical unit at the entrance by a multiple. If a driver cannot see it from the approach and reach it without a conversation with a security guard, discount your projection heavily.
The full scorecard
| Criterion | Weight | What to check |
|---|---|---|
| Existing dwell time | 20% | Median visit duration and what causes it |
| Electrical headroom | 15% | Existing sanction, spare capacity, distance to the panel |
| Bay visibility & access | 15% | Line of sight, barriers, security, signage rights |
| EV traffic density | 10% | Registered EVs within a 5km radius; nearby fleet depots |
| Competing chargers | 10% | Count, power, price and — most importantly — their uptime |
| Host commercial terms | 10% | Revenue share vs fixed rent; term and exclusivity |
| Civil works cost | 5% | Trenching distance, surfacing, canopy requirement |
| 24×7 accessibility | 5% | Gate hours; a site that closes at 10pm loses the best DC hours |
| Connectivity | 4% | Measured signal at the bay, not at the gate |
| Amenities | 3% | Toilets, food, shade, seating — the difference between tolerable and pleasant |
| Expansion room | 3% | Space and capacity for a second and third unit later |
Revenue share beats fixed rent, early
A host asking for fixed monthly rent is transferring the utilisation risk to you, at exactly the stage when you know least about it. Revenue share aligns you: the host has a reason to promote the chargers, direct visitors to them and keep the bays clear. Convert to fixed rent later, from a position of knowledge, if it suits you.
Where a host insists on rent, negotiate a ramp — nominal for the first six months, stepping up as sessions materialise. Hosts who refuse any ramp are usually telling you something about their own confidence in the footfall.
Look at the competition’s uptime, not their count
Three broken chargers nearby are an opportunity, not competition. Before dismissing a location as saturated, visit at 8pm on a weekday and see how many of the existing units are actually working. In most Indian cities the answer is instructive.
Pilot before you commit
Where the scorecard is ambiguous, install one AC unit rather than modelling for another quarter. Three months of real session data from a ₹60,000 charger is worth more than any projection, and it converts the conversation with the host from speculation into evidence — usually in your favour.