Building Codes Supporting EV Charging for Apartments

Well, for home owners, no big deal to install a garage charger. But this thread is about apartments, and how to get chargers installed when being built. I agree, though, the big problem is with older buildings and how to get them installed after the fact. And yes, we need more DCFC chargers for trips, too.

As a side note, I think building codes should also require solar installations for all new apartment buildings, actually all large commercial buildings. But that may be a bit of a dream for now...
 
No. Y'all still don't understand what I'm saying.

Increasing the overall car market share of EVs will send a market signal to apartment owners to put charging infrastructure in - even if apartment dwellers aren't really the ones buying the EVs now.

The majority of US drivers already live in residential units that have access to plugs. Lack of DC FC coverage (or perception of lack) is a huge reason why people don't buy EVs.

It makes sense to get this majority segment to buy as many EVs as they can because they will start changing the used car market to EVs the fastest. This means that apartment owners will have to put in the infrastructure for EVs to retain tenants.

It doesn't matter if people ultimately won't use the DC FC that often; DC FC helps sell EVs.
 
SouthernDude said:
No. Y'all still don't understand what I'm saying.

Increasing the overall car market share of EVs will send a market signal to apartment owners to put charging infrastructure in - even if apartment dwellers aren't really the ones buying the EVs now.

The majority of US drivers already live in residential units that have access to plugs. Lack of DC FC coverage (or perception of lack) is a huge reason why people don't buy EVs.

It makes sense to get this majority segment to buy as many EVs as they can because they will start changing the used car market to EVs the fastest. This means that apartment owners will have to put in the infrastructure for EVs to retain tenants.

It doesn't matter if people ultimately won't use the DC FC that often; DC FC helps sell EVs.
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I have a hard time disagreeing with the free market approach. But in this case it would be a huge lag with getting EV charging outlets installed in apartments. Buildings have a long life time, and old ones are not replaced that quickly. High end buildings will have charging infrastructure installed, but not lower end ones, unless forced to. With cars and consumer goods, yes, the free market can work very well.
 
Calliope said:
I disagree - until DCFC are as fast as filling up an ICE car, people will still see needing to stop to "fill up" an inconvenience in their daily lives. Something they're willing to do on occasion for their long trips, but not something they want to do regularly. (That is the number one thing people didn't understand about my plans to get a BEV.) I think you drive demand by making those "fill up" stops less necessary, not more convenient.
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You really need an EV that has sufficient range to never need day time (peek) charging. EV adoption is super low right now and last summer you had both California power companies and Tesla telling EV owners not to charge during peak times. Can you imagine what happens when EVs make up even 25% of the cars on the road and many rely on daytime fast chargers? EVs need to charge at night when extra capacity is available.

The only other option is charging stations with batteries that can charge at night and charge cars during the day. But with Tesla already charging .26 per kWh, what will charging cost to pay for that?


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R P said:
Well, for home owners, no big deal to install a garage charger. But this thread is about apartments, and how to get chargers installed when being built. I agree, though, the big problem is with older buildings and how to get them installed after the fact. And yes, we need more DCFC chargers for trips, too.

As a side note, I think building codes should also require solar installations for all new apartment buildings, actually all large commercial buildings. But that may be a bit of a dream for now...
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Because so many already can’t afford to pay their rent we should drive rent prices higher?


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Recoil45 said:
Because so many already can’t afford to pay their rent we should drive rent prices higher?


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I think rent costs are more a factor of supply. Problem is that land is so expensive, and the regs and approvals (studies for environmental, community input, hazardous materials, traffic, etc) to go thru just for the site to start building take forever. EV outlets and even solar panels (which should pay for themselves over time) are a very small part of the total cost.
 
No question on government regs being a large part of the issue. Things like the gov forcing solar panels are extremely crushing financially.

It’s good to live like we do, but most are far less fortunate. The people we elect, and many middle class citizens are grossly out of touch with the struggles of a large part of our society.

It is sad.


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Ultimately every gov tax, mandate, is passed on to the consumer no matter what they label it as. Generally those decisions impact the poor more than the upper middle class who can afford to add EVs to an already multi car family.


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Slightly less than 2/3 of residential units in the US are owner occupied, but millions of those owner-occupied homes are condos, not single-family homes, and the vast majority of condos are in multi-unit buildings. So the dominance of single-family homes is not as great as some think.

Also, writing off apartments means basically writing off younger drivers -- the group probably most open to new technology -- since the vast majority of young adults rent. A coworker of mine in her mid-twenties wanted to buy an EV last year but settled for a plug-in hybrid because she couldn't charge at home.

But yes, the majority of the rental and condo market consists of already-existing units, and ways need to be found to get those buildings wired for EV charging. California does actually have an incentive program that can help building owners do this, but my understanding is that it's not well-known or used all that much. For most people, charging at home is vastly superior to even DC fast charging, and will be until the technology develops to the point that charging your car is a fast as filling your gas tank. Even though I don't drive all that much, I'd never have bought an EV if I couldn't charge at home.
 
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