Industry jargon

Total cost of ownership

Also called: TCO Total cost of ownership, or TCO, adds the costs of buying, operating and supporting an asset across a defined period. For EV charging infrastructure, that can include hardware, installation, grid connection, software, payment services, energy, maintenance and field support. Purchase price alone can understate the cost of a charger if reliability or support problems create repeated site visits and lost charging revenue. TCO comparisons need the same operating period and assumptions to be meaningful.