Providing EV Charging at Apartments

Having been an independent EV charging consultant for commercial property clients since 2011, I am experiencing a rush of excitement as the Biden administration promotes the electrification of the transportation sector. The infrastructure initiative to support 500,000 charging stations is fantastic!  

However, a huge problem exists: The current industry business model for EV charging is broken. Potential owners of electric vehicles who live in existing apartments and condominiums may never be able to charge an electric vehicle at “home.” The reason is that offering EV charging as an amenity is not a simple equipment choice for property owners. It is a complex business decision.

The established 240V-Level 2 charging industry (including auto OEM’s, policy makers, building codes, utilities, incentive providers and charging industry vendors) is selling a model of equipment, services, and operations that does not pencil out as a business offering for multifamily property owners. 

The scale of the challenge is enormous, greatly impacting property owners, apartment and condo dwellers, and our environment alike. As the National Multifamily Housing Council reports, there are over 107 million people living in over 21 million apartments in the United States. The Foundation for Community Associations also reports 73.9 million (26% of the US population) people live in condominiums. 

We can think of it this way: When you own your own home, you know the cost of electricity per kWh; and whether you use a vacuum or charge your car, it’s the same kWh rate. But when you live in an apartment, the price you pay may be wildly different. The property owner must charge enough per kWh to make the equipment available and operate it, and this increases the fueling cost to the tenant/driver.

If you are a multifamily property owner or low-income housing provider and have been incentivized to install L2 ports but then realize that this new amenity is a money-losing battle, why would you do it? And if tenants are charged more for “electricity as a fuel” and not confident about charging at home, they won’t embrace purchasing an electric vehicle. 

Because electric vehicles are such a significant lever for reducing carbon emissions, we urgently need to scale EV sales in order to achieve the climate standards we seek. If potential EV owners are told fueling an EV is less expensive and then discover otherwise, the opportunity to scale EV vehicle sales is lost. 

There is a reasonable solution for multifamily property owners – one that provides EV owners what they need, lets drivers charge in their assigned parking space, and gives owners the ability to effectively provide and inexpensively scale charging. And that is 120V-Level 1 charging. I do not see that solution mentioned in any of the administration’s EV charging discussions, plans, or incentives. 

I’d like to propose that we take a look at this so that close to 180 million Americans are not locked out of EV charging at home.