EV Charging

With at-home chargers expected to make up more than 80% of electric vehicle charging installations by 2040 and demand for EV charging soaring at multifamily properties, apartment owners and managers are scrambling to provide the infrastructure residents need. 

Owners and operators who have installed charging systems offer the following advice to multifamily properties that are preparing to join the EV revolution.

1. Ask residents what they need

Survey residents and potential residents to help determine how many chargers your property needs, whether they prefer less-expensive shared chargers or would pay to have dedicated chargers, and whether they would be willing to share charging stations with the general public. 

Operators also need to determine whether existing rental agreements, covenants and restrictions should be updated to address EV charging.

2. Research laws and regulations as well as incentives

Keeping up to date on EV regulations is a big job. “Local and city requirements change all the time,” said Diana Pittro, executive vice president at Chicago-based RMK Management Corp., which is installing charging stations at most of its properties in Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin and Minnesota.

In addition, local, state and federal programs (and sometimes private companies) may offer incentives and rebate programs that can help offset the cost of acquiring and installing charging stations. EV stations also earn properties points toward LEED certification.

3. Determine whether to offer EV charging as a free amenity or a paid service

Providing free EV charging will make a property more attractive to residents and prospects. Charging can also be offered as a service, for which residents pay anywhere from 15 cents to 25 cents per kilowatt hour (about the equivalent of $2 per gallon in a gas-powered car) to $170 per month for dedicated EV parking spots. 

“You can set this up as an amenity you’re giving to residents, or you can charge for the service by taking the view that when someone goes to the gas station, you’re not paying for them to fill up their tank with gasoline,” said Jill Brosig, managing director and chief impact officer for investment management firm Harrison Street, which installed nearly 300 Xeal charging stations at senior and student housing properties in California, Massachusetts, Texas and Virginia last year. 

“With the latter, it is a convenience to EV owners and could even be compared to one paying a premium for a better parking spot,” said said. “There are several ways to approach it.”

4. Choose which type of chargers to install

Level 1 units, the most affordable at $300 to $1,500 per station, charge about 5 miles of range per hour. Level 2, the most common in apartment buildings, can cost up to $7,500 and are able to charge multiple vehicles faster — about 16 to 25 miles of range per hour — and can also network and balance electrical loads. 

5. Choose a vendor

At least 100 companies in North America are vying to provide EV charging infrastructure or provide charging as a service, and many of them tailor their products specifically to multifamily properties. The vendors offer several different options, from selling or leasing the equipment to installing and operating EV chargers and sharing profits with a property. 

Before committing to any vendor, it pays to do your homework, said Wendy Deetjen, senior regional manager for Chicago-based based real estate management firm The Habitat Co., which has been installing EV chargers at its multifamily properties for 10 years. 

“There are a lot of players out in the marketplace,” Deetjen said. “There’s a range of products, and the costs have big swings. You want to be thoughtful so you don’t lock yourself into something you might not want down the road. Make sure the payback makes sense and have a long-term plan versus just accommodating your needs today so you’re not spending good money after bad.”

6. Decide how many spots you need

For new builds, a general rule of thumb is to equip at least 20% of parking spots with chargers and include enough conduit to add more as needed. Certain jurisdictions, such as Denver; Oakland, California; and Vancouver, British Columbia, now require all parking spots in new buildings be EV-ready. 

“Futureproofing is the best strategy for getting the most out of the investment in EV charging,” said Ted Weldon, executive general manager of development for the Chicago office of global real estate developer Lendlease, which has installed EV chargers at every property it has developed. “If you base your targeted charging capacity on today’s needs alone, you are likely to face greater expense and difficulty later when you need to expand.”

According to CalMatters, installing EV infrastructure during construction is far less expensive than retrofitting, which can be four to 10 times more expensive. The costs of installing high-voltage circuitry for EV charging equipment at multifamily properties jumps from $1,410 during construction to $4,101 after construction. 

7. Upgrade electrical capacity

Most garages at existing properties have limited electrical capacity in parking areas, usually just enough for lighting and elevators, so operators need to consult an electrician about whether electrical panels are adequate and seek guidance from local electrical utilities on infrastructure needs, electricity costs and demand charges. The electrical service room might be far away from charging locations, especially in garden apartments, making it even more expensive. Installing EV stations at existing properties can entail trenching and/or cement excavation. 

Electrical and building permits are usually required, and utilities can take up to a year or more to approve installation plans. Factor in time for applications, inspections and permitting.

8. Get the most bang for the buck

Once the chargers are in place, operators must develop policies and procedures to manage charging and make plans to promote the service to residents and potential residents. Owners and operators should publicize the fact that they offer EV charging in order to get the best return on their investment.

Despite all the decisions that go into setting up an EV charging program, one thing is clear: Renters will flock to properties that have them.

“Very soon, it’s going to move from being an amenity to table stakes,” said Brosig.

Dive Brief:

• Electric vehicle sales are ramping up, with 800,000 of them sold last year alone — an increase of 65% from 2021, according to a new report by StorageCafe ranking the nation’s largest metros by their electric vehicle infrastructure. 
• California has had the most electric vehicle adoption by far, up from 258,000 vehicles in 2016 to 878,000 in 2021. On a city level, Los Angeles has the most registered EVs at 290,000, while Jackson, Mississippi, has the least at 480.
• However, the availability of EV charging infrastructure varies widely depending on geographic location. Out of the top 10 U.S. metros for electric-vehicle friendliness, California metros make up more than half of the spots — while Miami is the only Southern or East Coast city in the top 10.

Dive Insight:

In a 2022 National Multifamily Housing Council survey, 27% of renters said they were interested in EV charging stations, and respondents said they would pay $28.12 more per month for them. At the same time, on top of state level rebates and incentives, the Inflation Reduction Act, passed by Congress earlier this year, reinstated a tax credit of up to 30% of the cost for chargers nationwide.

As of now, about 4.7% of multifamily residential buildings nationwide offer EV charging stations as an amenity to residents, according to data shared with Multifamily Dive by StorageCafe. At the metro level, San Jose has the highest concentration of residential buildings with EV chargers — 10.3% of the total number of rentals, according to Yardi Matrix data from the StorageCafe report. Seattle’s 7.3% concentration gives it the second-highest share of rentals with EVs.

StorageCafe ranked each metro by the concentration of residential and public chargers as well as the number of EVs on the road, the cost of electricity and local incentives.

Based on these factors, the report found Seattle to be the top metro for electric vehicle friendliness overall. The city has over 47,000 EVs on its roads, approximately 0.6 public charging stations per 1,000 households and charging stations available at 7.3% of its rental properties. 

San Francisco came in second, with over 105,000 registered EVs — roughly 5% of the national total — 1.4 charging stations per 1,000 households and stations available at 6% of rental properties. San Jose ranks third with 44,000 EVs registered locally, 2.2 charging stations per 1,000 households and stations available at 10% of rental properties.

Charging station numbers rose by 58% in 2021 compared to 2020, according to the U.S. Department of Energy’s Alternative Fuels Data Center. Still, one of the biggest obstacles to electric vehicle adoption is the inconsistent charging infrastructure.

As of now, while the top metros for EV concentration have 0.6 or more public EV charging stations per 1,000 households, nearly half of U.S. metros with 500,000 or more residents have 0.2 or fewer public EV charging stations per 1,000 households. One metro, McAllen-Edinburgh-Mission, Texas, has no public EV charging stations at all, and 17 metros do not have any rental properties with EV charging stations available.

Current headlines might seem to indicate that the electric vehicle craze was over before it got started.

Reports of EVs sitting on lots, cuts in production, cold weather issues and gripes about a lack of charging infrastructure have left many consumers with the impression that now is not the moment to switch from a gasoline-powered engine. At the same time, the Biden administration is pushing for greater adoption with clean vehicle tax credits and a goal installing 500,000 chargers nationwide by 2030. 

This change of events leaves multifamily operators with a conundrum: Continue to add charging stations on site or hold off?

For Aaron Luque, CEO at Atlanta-based EnviroSpark, an EV design, install and operations firm, not adding the infrastructure would be a mistake. 

“For the past 10 years, we’ve been focused on building public-facing infrastructure at malls, restaurants, gas stations and other locations,” he told Multifamily Dive. “We need that and that’s where federal funding is going. But we’ve found the best place to install infrastructure in terms of bang for the buck is at home.”

EV drivers want the convenience of charging up at home, especially overnight, so that they don’t have to go to the mall or another public locale and kill time while they wait. For single-family homeowners, adding the infrastructure is relatively easy, but for the roughly one-third of Americans who rent their homes, that amenity is often out of their control.

Andres Pinter, co-CEO at Bullet EV Charging Solutions, based in Austin, Texas, said that, for the multifamily market, it’s about playing the long game. 

“Historically EV drivers have been homeowners, but that is changing as EV prices come down and the next wave of younger EV drivers enters the market,” he said. “The early adopter phase is over, and now everyone is taking the leap into EV.”

As Pinter sees it, EV charging is the new laundry room, a necessary utility for many tenants. This especially holds true for new builds. 

“EV charging is a must-have amenity for groud-up development,” he said. “Partly because it’s more cost-efficient to integrate and install charging into tenant parking during design and construction phases,” he said. “In fact, building code in many jurisdictions now requires a certain amount of EV charging.” For instance, in Atlanta, 20% of parking spaces in new multifamily development must be EV ready. 

Luque said another reason to offer it is to attract the attention of tech-savvy, environmentally minded renters.

“The younger demographic wants to align with companies that align with their values,” he said. “When they find a community with EV charging, or plans to add it, they see a community that is environmentally focused.” 

Charging ahead

While there’s truth in the fact that demand for EVs softened in 2023, Pinter said that overall 2024 will still be a bigger year of sales.

“Growth in new technology is rarely linear,” he said. “Despite demand tapering off at the end of 2023, EV sales were the highest ever in the U.S. last year. The EV share of the U.S. market was 7.6%, up from 5.9% in 2022.”

Adoption will also grow as consumers see more EV chargers pop up across the country. The Department of Transportation recently announced $623 million in grants to support charging infrastructure across the country.

"We're at a moment now where the electric vehicle revolution isn't coming, it is very much here," Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said in announcing the grants.

This means that developers eyeing a new build or retrofit should still include EV charging, according to Pinter.  In some cases, utility companies will offer incentives or rebates to multifamily developments, depending on the state. Southern California Edison, for instance, offers up to $3,500 per charging port or $7,000 for a dual charging port.

“Multifamily is near and dear to our heart, and we want to generate awareness of EV ownership,” said Luque. “You can start easy, with one or two stations. The longer the station is there, the more EV drivers start using it, which adds value to your properties.”

The bottom line is that while news coverage about EV adoption may seem gloomy, don’t wager against the power of electric cars. 

“Much of the multifamily market is already committed to electrifying their properties, and they shouldn’t slow down,” said Luque. “If you don’t have charging stations, you stand to lose a tenant or not recruit a new one.”

Private garages are a rarity at rental communities, and electric vehicle charging stations, while growing in popularity, are still a limited offering as well. In a bold move, the development and management team behind Bella Victoria, a 236-unit rental community located west of Phoenix in Mesa, Arizona, has combined the two to create a unique standard feature — EV charging stations in all private resident garages. 

Every unit at Bella Victoria, constructed in 2020 by Mesa-based home builder Bela Flor and managed by Phoenix-based MEB Management Services, has access to its own private garage and Level 2 high-speed vehicle charger, compatible with a variety of electric vehicle models. 

Floor plans at the community range from two to three bedrooms, with rents starting at $1,970. In addition to the private garage and EV charging, all units are Energy Star–certified and equipped with smart thermostats, LED lighting, smart water heaters and high-speed fiber-optic wiring. 

The team is now underway on a second rental property — Bella Encanta, also located in Mesa — which will also include private EV charging and sustainable unit features. The project is expected to open for leasing this month.

Here, Hudd Hassell, president of Bela Flor, spoke with Multifamily Dive about the technical specs of the Bella Victoria project, the resources necessary to make it work and the future of EV chargers at multifamily properties.

This interview has been edited for brevity and clarity.

MULTIFAMILY DIVE: Does every resident at Bella Victoria have a private garage? 

HUDD HASSELL: Yes. Every resident at Bella Victoria has a private, one-car garage.  EV charging will take place inside each garage. In addition, 50% of the units have a private driveway in front of the garage and charging could take place there, too.

How has the property's strategy evolved over time?

We’ve always had a strong sense that EVs would eventually become prevalent in the U.S. like they are in other countries, such as Norway. Now, with the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act last year, the adoption of EVs has been greatly accelerated. 

To that end, we made sure to include as much of the electrical infrastructure as possible upfront during construction. This includes 200-amp panels for each unit, the large electrical equipment (800-amp service entry section switch gear, which provides power to each of the panels) and oversized transformers from our utility provider, Salt River Project, that provide power to that gear. 

With time, we’ve seen more and more people interested in and asking about accommodating electric vehicles.     

What were the challenges to setting up and installing the charging program?

The biggest challenge was the back-end infrastructure. The transformers from SRP, the switching gear on the buildings and the panels in each unit all had to be upsized. Only when all of that was done could we complete the process by installing a dedicated 50-amp circuit to the charging port.

How much did the project cost?

The budget was $6,000 per port, or $1.4 million. The actual spend was closer to $7,500 per port, or $1.8 million.

Did the company receive any tax credits for installing EV chargers? How did the company justify the cost?

Arizona doesn’t offer anything yet, but we hope to take advantage of the new federal tax credits outlined in the recently passed Inflation Reduction Act legislation. We are also looking into what incentives the local utilities can provide. 

We justified the install cost when viewing ownership from a long-term perspective. We don’t usually sell our projects. We also knew EVs were coming and we wanted to be competitive when that time came to differentiate ourselves from other properties nearby.

Are you anticipating that this offering may become standard?

We believe private EV charging is the ultimate luxury and will become standard in the future.  Currently, we are piloting a program where EV charging is free to any resident. This will distinguish our property from others that aren’t able to offer this amenity, and should create some buzz for us in the community.

How do you plan to incorporate EV charging and smart tech at Bella Encanta and other future properties?

Bella Encanta has mostly two-car garages, so we will likely install two chargers and charging ports in each garage and share the dedicated 50-amp circuit. Most Level 2 chargers these days have built-in smarts to manage this.

What should other project owners know about setting up their own program?

Plan from the beginning. Retrofits will be prohibitively costly. EV sales are growing — this is the future.

In late 2021, after apartment owners and operators started inundating Park City, Utah-based RET Ventures about EV charging stations, the multifamily-focused technology investment firm created a working group and launched a comprehensive evaluation of the technology. It found a lot of dissatisfaction.

“The chargers are offline a lot. They’re broken a lot. Residents start calling the leasing office, and the people in the leasing office aren’t EV charging experts and don’t know how to troubleshoot,” RET vice president Jameson Hartman said. “It just creates this headache from an operational standpoint and general dissatisfaction for the residents.”

Whether they like it or not, multifamily owners and operators are being forced to start wading through EV charging options as demand intensifies. EV sales have soared, increasing by 67% from 2021 to 2022, according to Kelley Blue Book, and the U.S. Department of Energy has adopted an International Code Council provision requiring apartment communities to provide EV charging infrastructure for up to 20% of lots with 25 or more parking spaces.

“Electric vehicles are expected to account for nearly 30% of sales by 2030,” said Ted Weldon, executive general manager of development for the Chicago office of global real estate developer Lendlease. “It is inevitable that the number of renters looking for a place to charge their electric vehicle at home will increase.”

Renters are willing to pay a premium for the capability. In a 2022 National Multifamily Housing Council survey, 27% of renters said they were interested in EV charging stations, and respondents said they would pay $28.12 more per month for them. 

“Very soon, it’s going to move from being an amenity to table stakes,” said Jill Brosig, managing director and chief impact officer for investment management firm Harrison Street, which installed nearly 300 Xeal charging stations at senior and student housing properties in California, Massachusetts, Texas and Virginia this year.

Costs and incentives

Before Harrison Street invested in chargers, Brosig’s team surveyed their properties about their EV charging needs and desires — a step she said is crucial. 

Multifamily properties can install two types of chargers. Level 1 (L1) are the most affordable at $300 to $1,500 per station, but they can only charge about 5 miles of range per hour. Level 2 (L2), the most common in apartment buildings, can cost up to $7,500 and are able to charge multiple vehicles faster — about 16 to 25 miles of range per hour — and can also network and balance electrical loads. 

The cost of installing chargers can be mitigated in some states, where governments and utilities offer rebates and incentives, but wading through the options and filling out the applications can be a heavy lift. California utilities have provided at least $240 million for EV charging infrastructure at multifamily properties since 2016, and Colorado provides rebates of up to 80% of charging station costs for multifamily properties. 

The Inflation Reduction Act, passed by Congress earlier this year, reinstated a tax credit of up to 30% of the cost.

“Incentives can get very complicated,” Brosig said, which is why she recommends partnering with a vendor that “is able to basically be your eyes on the ground in terms of what’s happening in various municipalities.” 

At Chicago-based RMK Management Corp. which is installing L2 charging stations at most of its properties in Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin and Minnesota, executive vice president Diana Pittro said costs range between $5,000 to $15,000 per charger, depending on where they’re located and the amount of concrete or wiring that has to be done on sites that require retrofitting. (Installing chargers on existing properties can cost three to five times more than including EV ports in new builds.)

Managing risk

Chicago-based real estate management firm The Habitat Co., which has been installing EV chargers at its multifamily properties for 10 years, looks for at least a three-year payback for the cost of the chargers, said senior regional manager Wendy Deetjen. 

“We see discounts by buying in volume, and we try to take advantage of that,” she added.

Following its evaluation, RET Ventures determined that L1 charging with L2 support is the best path to widespread adoption. It recently invested in Plugzio, a hardware-agnostic, cloud-based charger management system that integrates with established Level 2 providers. The $300 device, which plugs into traditional outlets, charges 10 miles of range per hour — about halfway between L1 and L2 — and can be managed through a central dashboard. 

“There’s lower capital at risk,” RET Venture’s Hartman said. “So, in five years, if the industry turns over and battery swap becomes the thing — great. Even if you’ve deployed Plugzio across your portfolio, you spent a fourth of the capex that other people did, so you’re not nearly as upset.”

Operations and marketing

Before committing to any type of charger, experts recommend contacting the local electric utility to determine whether service is adequate and inquire about special rates or rebates.

Determining how many chargers to install is highly dependent on property type and location. Chris Vargas, senior vice president of sales and marketing for Culver City, Calif.-based Chargie, which specializes in charging stations for multifamily properties, said he’s working with a luxury 300-unit property in Orange County that is installing 300 chargers — but each building is unique in its needs.

“If I had a crystal ball and were to look into the future, probably 80% of parking spots at multifamily properties will have Level 2 charging access,” Vargas said.

Operators must also develop policies and procedures to manage charging, determine whether and how residents will pay for it and make plans to promote the service to residents and potential residents. 

“The marketing piece is a big piece,” Brosig said. “How are you going to use this to your advantage? Are you talking about it on your website, in your marketing materials? Is your property manager emphasizing it? The last thing you want to do is install this technology and not tell anybody.”