Raj Jhaveri is CTO of Greenlane Infrastructure.
With electricity demand surging from data centers, AI infrastructure and new industrial loads, energy prices are soaring everywhere. For electric truck fleet owners, this complicates the math behind the true cost of charging, where a few cents per kilowatt-hour at the wrong hour can erase your return on investment. Everything ties back to how energy is priced, when it’s used and whether you have the right systems to manage it.
The Complexity Behind The Plug
Unlike fossil fuels, where there’s one price at the pump, electricity pricing is dynamic. When you plug in a truck, you’re paying for the timing, the power level and even how your utility defines “peak.” The stack includes seasonal variations and demand charges that can spike costs when you exceed certain thresholds.
For public charging operators, exceeding a contracted limit can trigger massive penalties, costs that often get passed directly to the customer. I’ve seen operators underestimate how quickly load ramps during afternoon peaks, only to face huge demand charges that wiped out profits. For fleets that rely on predictable margins, electricity pricing—once an afterthought—has become one of the most important variables in the economics of transportation.
How Technology Can Tip The Scale
Fortunately, load management systems, on-site batteries and smart charging software can drastically reduce costs by shifting when and how electricity is used. A battery system paired with solar panels and an energy management platform (EMS) can balance loads among multiple chargers to avoid costly spikes.
Say you have 10 trucks returning to base at 6 p.m., right at peak pricing. Without an EMS, they all start charging at once, which pushes power demand through the roof. With load management, you can stagger charging, use stored solar power or draw from batteries during high-cost periods. The system decides which trucks charge first based on telematics, including routes, battery levels and departure times.
Reservation systems take this further. By scheduling sessions in advance, customers can plan around low-cost windows. Everyone wins when the grid is balanced: Operators gain visibility into expected loads, and utilities get predictability.
Subscription-based pricing also holds promise. By offering fleets predictable monthly costs based on usage, charging networks can negotiate better rates and pass those savings on to customers. For fleet managers, volatile electricity bills become much more manageable. When operators stack the right technologies and pricing models together, everyone in the charging ecosystem benefits.
Getting Smart About Energy—And Policy
For fleet owners, the first step is understanding that electricity isn’t a flat-rate calculation. Rates fluctuate based on time of use (TOU)—that is, the hour of day when charging occurs, as well as speed and total draw, just like your home energy bill reflects not just how much power you use but when you use it. Some operators hesitate to commit to charging plans or volumes, only to end up with higher bills they could have avoided. Fleets need the same intelligence and collaboration from their charging partners. (Even at Tesla Superchargers, prices shift throughout the day; the difference is that Tesla manages that TOU complexity.)
Smart charging doesn’t have to be complicated. It could mean taking advantage of off-peak rates at your second stop instead of fully charging upfront. It’s like holding out for cheaper gas at the next town, except here the savings come from strategy, not luck. Of course, managing this manually across dozens of trucks is nearly impossible, which is why it’s critical to work with providers who can automate scheduling around rate windows to minimize total energy costs.
Beyond the fleets themselves, utilities and regulators need to modernize how electricity is priced. Most tariff structures were built for factories, not public truck charging sites. We need EV-friendly rates and incentives for load management, as well as smoother demand charge ceilings and flexible time-of-use tariffs that reflect real-world operations. Utilities should also support corridor-based infrastructure: regularly spaced charging hubs that can grow modularly to support megawatt charging in the future. Building for today while planning for tomorrow is how we’ll future-proof the grid.
Integrating renewable energy and fleet telemetry should also be part of the plan. Using data to predict demand helps prevent strain and ensures we prioritize cleaner energy sources. The more predictable the system, the cheaper and more sustainable it becomes for everyone.
Even though electricity costs are rising, the total cost of owning an electric truck doesn’t have to. By optimizing charging schedules, utilizing smart technologies and taking advantage of subscription pricing, fleets can control what was once uncontrollable. The key is managing the math behind truck charging intelligently.
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