Bring the capital. We bring the team that builds the charging network.

A charge point operator owns or controls public EV chargers, holds the utility account, sets the charging price, keeps the charging revenue, and is accountable for uptime. It works with a site host that controls the land, network software that runs sessions and payments, and a development and construction partner that turns the site into energized, reliable hardware. Faith Energy fills that development and design-build role for investors who want to own DC fast charging.

Most new CPOs pair capital with an expert team rather than building every capability in-house. The path runs through eight stages: set the investment thesis, build a scored site pipeline, confirm utility capacity before signing a lease, size port count and kW, stack incentives, procure bankable hardware, build and commission, then operate and report. Faith Energy delivers the site, power, engineering, construction, and service stages so the owner can focus on capital and strategy.

It can be, but returns concentrate in well-chosen, reliable sites. US fast-charging sessions in June 2026 were up 29% year over year, while national utilization held near 16% in Q2 and the average price was $0.538 per kWh. Averages hide wide dispersion: California averaged about 23% utilization, and stations with strong reliability scores see a median of 17 sessions a day versus 3 for the rest. Site selection, electrical cost discipline, and uptime decide the outcome.

Public benchmarks: an analysis of 330 NEVI awards found an average of about $915,000 per site and $193,000 per port, and Tesla's Supercharger for Business configurator prices a standard eight-stall site at about $940,000 installed, plus a $0.10 per kWh operating fee. Cost swings most with the electrical scope — utility service, transformer, switchgear, and trenching — which is why it should be engineered before it is priced.

It depends on price, tariff, and capital cost, so there is no universal number. In McKinsey's 2023 model, an example station lost money at 15% utilization and $0.45 per kWh and broke even near 20% — or at 15% with pricing near $0.53 per kWh, roughly today's national average. Demand charges matter most at low utilization, so tariff selection and power sizing belong in the underwriting from day one.

Five structures are common: a turnkey model where the investor owns 100% and the expert team delivers and maintains the sites; programmatic development against agreed underwriting criteria; co-development, where the team contributes pipeline and execution and the capital partner funds equity, often in a project company; operator-light ownership, where a network such as Tesla's program runs operations for a per-kWh fee; and acquiring and repowering existing sites. Site control is layered on top through a ground lease, a revenue share, or a hybrid.

Yes — most DC fast charging is built on land the operator does not own. The operator secures site control from a property owner through a long-term ground lease or license fee, a percentage of gross or net charging revenue, or a hybrid, typically for ten years or more with renewals, removal and restoration terms, and utility easements.

Tesla's configurator, as reported in April 2026, prices a standard eight-stall V4 site at about $940,000 all-in — roughly $500,000 of hardware plus per-post installation — with Tesla operating the site for $0.10 per kWh. The owner sets pricing and branding. Installation varies with the site's electrical conditions, which is the utility, switchgear, and construction scope a design-build electrical contractor engineers.

Not for new projects. The One Big Beautiful Bill Act ended the 30C Alternative Fuel Vehicle Refueling Property Credit for property placed in service after June 30, 2026. For owners with taxable income, 100% bonus depreciation — permanently restored for qualifying property acquired and placed in service after January 19, 2025 — is now the primary federal tax lever. Confirm treatment with a tax advisor.

Partly. NEVI continues under revised August 2025 guidance that dropped the 50-mile spacing requirement and allows upgrades of existing stations, but February 2026 appropriations redirected about $804 million of unobligated NEVI balances to other highway programs, and the underlying federal authorization expires September 30, 2026. Federally funded sites must still meet 23 CFR 680 requirements, including four 150 kW ports and greater than 97% uptime. Treat federal grants as upside rather than the base case.

Score demand and power together. Demand signals include traffic volume and highway access, EV registrations, competitor count and reliability, 24/7 access, and amenities — stations with 11 or more amenities nearby see a median of 28 sessions a day versus 3 with none. Power signals include three-phase service and transformer capacity, utility upgrade scope and timeline, and the electricity tariff. Confirm utility capacity before signing a lease.

The market is moving larger and faster: about 72% of US fast-charging ports added in Q2 2026 were rated 250 kW or more. Four 150 kW ports is the federal minimum for funded corridor sites, but busy sites queue quickly at four stalls, so many new sites are designed for six to twelve. Size the switchboard and conduit for build-out, and size the utility request to realistic coincident demand — Tesla's charging leadership reports eight-stall sites draw under 1 MW 99% of the time.

Typically about 9 to 24 months from site control to energization. Utility capacity studies, service upgrades, and transformer and switchgear lead times usually set the critical path; construction itself is often six to twelve weeks. Atlas Public Policy estimates cutting six months from energization adds about $104,200 to $165,500 of net present value per public fast-charging site, which is why long-lead gear should be ordered as soon as the design allows.

Both, in most cases. NACS (SAE J3400) connectors were 22.9% of new non-Tesla fast-charging ports in Q2 2026 and rising, while federally funded ports must still carry a permanently attached CCS1 connector. Dual-connector hardware serves every EV on the road today and avoids stranding the site as the fleet transitions.

The owner is accountable, and most contract it out. A 97% uptime requirement leaves roughly 263 hours — about 11 days — of downtime per port per year, so service needs remote monitoring, preventative maintenance, regional spare parts, and response-time commitments. Faith Energy provides service programs across all major charger brands for the sites it builds and for existing networks.

Faith Energy is a national design-build electrical contractor and authorized reseller of 13 charging brands that serves as the expert team behind a charging network: site selection and demand screening, utility coordination, port count and kW sizing, incentive capture, hardware specification, stamped engineering, self-performed construction, commissioning, network activation, and ongoing service. Investors bring the capital and own the network.