{"id":2008,"date":"2026-04-27T14:41:27","date_gmt":"2026-04-27T12:41:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/certipower.be\/kennisbank\/fast-charger-on-your-business-site-when-is-50-kw-dc-sensible-and-when-is-it-overkill\/"},"modified":"2026-10-07T21:16:35","modified_gmt":"2026-10-07T19:16:35","slug":"fast-charger-on-your-business-site-when-is-50-kw-dc-sensible-and-when-is-it-overkill","status":"publish","type":"kennisbank","link":"https:\/\/certipower.be\/en\/kennisbank\/fast-charger-on-your-business-site-when-is-50-kw-dc-sensible-and-when-is-it-overkill\/","title":{"rendered":"A fast charger on your business site: 50 kW or 200 kW, and when is it overkill?"},"content":{"rendered":"
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A 50 kW DC fast charger typically costs \u20ac25,000 to \u20ac45,000 including installation. A 200 kW charger costs several times more.<\/p>\n

Both cost several times as much as a standard 22 kW AC charger. Below is an honest answer to the question of which power makes sense, and when.<\/p>\n

What does 50 kW do, and what does 200 kW do?<\/h2>\n

An electric car with a usable battery of 60 kWh charges from 20% to 80% in:<\/p>\n

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AC 11 kW<\/span>\u00b1 3.5 hours<\/strong>From 20% to 80%<\/span><\/div>\n
DC 50 kW<\/span>\u00b1 45 minutes<\/strong>From 20% to 80%<\/span><\/div>\n
DC 200 kW<\/span>\u00b1 15 minutes<\/strong>If the car can take that power<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Two caveats: not every car accepts 200 kW, and peak power is rarely reached across the whole charging session.<\/p>\n

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The difference only matters when time is truly scarce.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Three situations where DC pays for itself<\/h2>\n
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01<\/div>\n
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Customer car park with charging as a traffic driver<\/h3>\n

Hotels, restaurants and retail with customers who drive electric. Your customer stays half an hour to an hour anyway.<\/p>\n

How to approach it:<\/strong> 50 kW is enough. 200 kW only makes sense at transit locations along an access road or motorway.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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02<\/div>\n
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Operational fleet with intensive use<\/h3>\n

Courier services, taxis and transport companies whose vehicles charge several times a day. Here every minute counts.<\/p>\n

How to approach it:<\/strong> 200 kW is defensible, provided the vehicles can actually take that power.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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03<\/div>\n
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Back-up for unexpected situations<\/h3>\n

A large fleet that mainly runs on home chargers, but where someone occasionally needs to move on quickly.<\/p>\n

How to approach it:<\/strong> one 50 kW DC charger as a back-up, not as the main infrastructure.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Three situations where DC is overkill<\/h2>\n
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Employee fleet<\/span>Cars parked overnight<\/strong>12 hours of downtime: 11 kW AC is more than enough.<\/span><\/div>\n
Visitor car park<\/span>Low frequency<\/strong>A few charging sessions a day do not justify a \u20ac30,000 investment. A 22 kW AC charger does the same for less.<\/span><\/div>\n
SME<\/span>Irregular need<\/strong>A 22 kW AC charger or a compact 25 to 30 kW DC charger covers most of the need, at a fraction of the price.<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Unsure whether a fast charger makes sense?<\/strong>Our technical advisor calculates whether the investment pays for itself.<\/span><\/div>\n
Get the calculation<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

The forgotten middle class: DC 25 to 30 kW<\/h2>\n

Compact DC chargers at around \u20ac15,000 to \u20ac20,000 are an underrated category. Fast enough for an effective top-up over lunch (60% in 30 minutes), affordable enough for an SME budget. For sites that want to charge quickly now and then without paying for 50 kW, it is often the ideal compromise.<\/p>\n

The grid capacity trap<\/h2>\n

A 50 kW DC charger needs at least 75 kVA of connection capacity for that charger alone. A 200 kW charger needs several hundred kVA, and in practice often its own medium-voltage substation with the matching permit. Many existing SME connections cannot handle that without a grid upgrade.<\/p>\n

Always include that cost and lead time in the business case. What to do when capacity is tight: charging infrastructure in an existing car park<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The right power, in four rules<\/h2>\n
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  1. Default: AC<\/strong>For cars that stand still long enough.<\/li>\n
  2. In-between: DC 25 to 30 kW<\/strong>For sites that want to charge quickly now and then.<\/li>\n
  3. 50 kW: with a demonstrable reason<\/strong>Commercial or operational.<\/li>\n
  4. 200 kW: only where throughput is the product<\/strong>And where the grid connection can handle that capacity.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    An installer who recommends a fast charger without that distinction is selling you margin rather than a solution. The basics are covered in AC or DC charging<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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    Install<\/strong>AC and DC, from home charger to fast charger on the company site.<\/span><\/div>\n
    Measure<\/strong>Consumption per user and per location, without estimates.<\/span><\/div>\n
    My.Certipower<\/strong>Consumption and costs per user and per location, without Excel.<\/span><\/div>\n
    Split billing<\/strong>Your employee pays nothing upfront and submits no receipts. How split billing works<\/a><\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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    No obligation<\/div>\n

    Which power suits your site?<\/p>\n

    We calculate whether a fast charger pays for itself for you.<\/p>\n