The professional charging market offers several pricing models, mainly flat rates and actual-cost rates. Understanding them is above all a way to optimise and control your fleet's charging costs. Here is an overview to help you make the most economical and transparent choice for your company!
Key points
- Two dominant models: flat rate (single price per kWh) vs. actual-cost rate (charging station price + margin).
- Actual-cost rate: more economical in the long run, especially for fleets with intensive use.
- Advantages of actual cost: transparency, alignment with usage, easy tracking via a management platform.
Understanding the two main pricing models
The flat rate: simple but often more expensive
With a flat rate, the price per kilowatt-hour (kWh) stays the same whatever charging network is used. This model is attractive because it is easy to read, especially for fleet managers who want a clear view of costs. But this simplicity comes at a price: to avoid losses, the rate is generally higher than the actual market average. It has to cover the price differences between charging station operators.
The result: users often pay more than the actual cost of the energy consumed.
The actual-cost rate: fairer and often more advantageous
The actual-cost rate is based directly on the price displayed by the network, plus a fixed, transparent margin. It reflects the exact cost of charging, so companies can take full advantage of the most competitive charging stations.
This pricing model is generally more economical, especially for fleets with regular or intensive use. It also aligns the price paid with actual usage, while remaining easy to track thanks to centralised management.
A concrete example: a gap that makes a difference
Typical rates: €0.36/kWh vs. €0.10/kWh
Take a simple case: a company regularly charges its vehicles on network X.
With actual-cost pricing, the cost can drop to €0.10/kWh excl. VAT. By contrast, a flat-rate model is often around €0.36/kWh excl. VAT, or even more depending on the provider.
The gap may seem small at first glance. But applied to thousands of kilometres driven every month, the cost difference quickly becomes significant.
A major impact on professional fleets
With high charging volumes, the savings achieved with actual-cost pricing can be significant! For fleet managers, this gap has a direct impact on the TCO (total cost of ownership) of electric vehicles, and therefore on the overall profitability of their mobility policy.
Actual-cost pricing: a strategic choice for professionals
Transparent and suited to different uses
Actual-cost pricing gives a clear and accurate view of charging costs: each session reflects the exact rate of the charging station used, plus a fixed margin known in advance. This transparency is particularly appreciated by companies that want to control their budget and adapt their charging policy to their employees' actual usage.
Easy to use despite variable prices
Actual-cost pricing may seem complex to manage, but it really isn't! Thanks to the centralised management tools offered by some operators, companies keep a clear, consolidated view of their spending. They can combine flexible use and cost optimisation without adding to their day-to-day workload.
At Chargemap Business, we chose transparency
✅ Actual-cost pricing
✅ Fixed, known margin
✅ Clear visibility of costs
Our goal? To offer our business customers a fair, transparent solution that matches their usage.
Conclusion
Faced with different pricing models, companies have every interest in choosing flexible, transparent and cost-effective solutions.
Actual-cost pricing, in line with real-world usage, is emerging as a high-performing alternative for professionals who want to optimise their costs without sacrificing ease of management.
