EV ownership has a lot of perks. Lower fuel and maintenance costs, carpool lane access (in some states), preferred parking at shopping centers, cutting down on your overall carbon footprint, and being able to "fill up" at home (having a charger at home means one less errand to run). However, if you're one of the 75 million Americans living in an apartment or condo there are a few things you'll need to do in order to ensure you get EV charging at home easily and affordably.
Don’t Wait, Start Early
Simply put, our garages were never designed to power our vehicles and there just isn't a lot of available power in them. If you're serious about bringing EV charging to your building you really shouldn't wait until the EVs are already being delivered. In fact, if you wait this long you might be in for an unwelcome surprise. The unfortunate reality is that in an apartment or condo power is a shared resource and the parking garage is a shared space, meaning every resident will want to have a say and this process takes time.
The HOA or property manager will want to meet, documents will need to be gathered (more on this in a bit), and an understanding of the present and future needs of the residents will need to be found out.
The quicker you are to start this discussion the better off you'll be in the long run. Working with an experienced charging provider that has done work in apartments and condos before will smooth this process out, so make sure to get one involved.
Engage Your HOA or Property Manager
Once you're sure you're going to buy an EV, set an appointment with your HOA or Property Manager to find out your options.
Strength in numbers is always a good thing and getting your HOA, property manager, and other residents on board will help speed along the process of getting a charger installed on site tremendously. In some cases the HOA may have already started down this path without your knowledge. Even if they haven't it's good to get them thinking about what they'll need to bring charging on-site.
While this may seem unnecessary it's an essential part of the process. HOAs and property managers will want to know who pays for the installs, how much additional electrical infrastructure is required, and how they can monitor and bill residents for the power that they're using (hint: Orange Charger takes care of all of this). No matter if this is all taken care of by the charging provider, the HOA and property manager will still want to have a discussion and the sooner you start, the better.
Know Your Space
Understanding your space goes a long way in bringing EV charging to your residence. Having a parking garage map and electrical line diagram (your HOA/property manager should have these) before you start working with a charging provider will cut down on the back and forth and help get you an accurate quote.
These documents should also help your charging provider build out a plan to provide charging for the current building need but also how to scale the system well into the future. If your charging provider isn't doing this, it's time to look elsewhere. Keeping installs affordable while allowing the building to add additional chargers as needed is the name of the game. Ensuring that all residents have easy and affordable access to charging, whenever they decide to make the switch to EV. Charging systems need to be designed with the future in mind and ensuring that there is a plan in place will help move the process forward and put everyone's mind at ease.
Living in an apartment or condo doesn't make getting EV charging on-site easy but Orange Charger is here to help, even if you're just looking to ask a few questions. Our goal is to enable the widespread adoption of EVs and we can't do that when 75 million Americans still can't get access to in-home charging.
Reliable EV charger that’s even easier to manage.
