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EV demand is growing. Nearly half of car buyers are considering one. EVs are convenient to own if you can charge in your home garage, but life can get complicated if you live in an apartment. There are lots of things that can be done to make EV ownership easier that we discuss here.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau 31% of car owners live in a place they rent. This has led to a lot of social media discussion about how apartment dwelling EV owners cope with charging. Here’s a recent, post on the Reddit by Substantial-Coffee33 with a ton of responses from the EV apartment dwelling community.
“I’m buying my first EV, because I’m starting a new job that requires a lot of driving, but I also live in an apartment, so I don’t have the luxury of charging my car at home. Where do people who can’t charge their car at home, charge their car?”
raptir1 laid out some options:
“You have a few options:
• Charge at work if your work has chargers.
• Move to a different apartment building which actually has chargers.
• Use the PlugShare app and find other public level 2 chargers in your area.
• Use DC fast chargers like Tesla superchargers, Electrify America (DC fast charging is expensive and so you likely won’t save a lot on gas).”
Schwanerhill responded with a cost comparison:
“I pay about 2cents/mile at home, about 7cents/mile for DC charging (in Chevy Bolt), and about 14cents/mile for gas in a Honda Fit.”
SanDiegoSporty suggested working with the landlord:
“Another option for list: see if the landlord is willing to do some sort of cost share for the installation of a charger. Depends on circumstances of course. Maybe you kick some part of the install cost. Charging at home is worth something for the convenience.”
icberg7 gave a real example of an apartment dwelling EV owner:
“My boss has an EV and lives in an apartment. He’s able to charge at work, and he’s also found some nearby L2 chargers that either don’t cost anything or cap their fee. So, it’s definitely doable, but it’s going to take some legwork on your part and might not be enjoyable.”
The good news is that progress is being made and there are a lot of cost-effective common-sense measures that can be taken to improve the ownership experience for EV apartment dwellers.
The raft of affordable EVs coming onto the market will increase demand for apartment-level charging. The very affordable Chevy Equinox EV recently topped 8,500 units sold in one month, making it the best single month ever for any non-Tesla EV in the U.S. Rivian is launching its more affordable R2, along with competitive offerings like the Volvo EX30 and the KIA EV3 expected to start around $30,000.
It’s amazing that we can track this stuff, but public charging success rates improved for the first time in four years. J.D. Power reports that 84 percent of public charging attempts succeeded in the first quarter, which means a 16 percent failure rate. Performance looks better than the roughly 20 percent failure rates that held steady from 2021 through 2024.
Most unsuccessful charging sessions still come down to equipment being out of service or malfunctioning. Compatibility snags and charger specific software issues remain part of the mix. The difference in 2024 is the urgency to resolve these faults quickly rather than waiting for new sites to mask the problem. This is good news and may show a change in the industry.
Charging industry executives are starting to describe a similar strategy of replacing weak components, standardizing firmware, and tightening remote monitoring. This signals a broad shift from growth at any cost to reliable service that retains customers.
If states unlock long term funding and operators keep refining maintenance and software, drivers will experience more reliable charging sessions, shorter waits, and a network that will be able to serve more customers both rural and urban apartment dwellers.
Power Pole Mounted EV Chargers
Several countries including Australia and the UK are trialing power pole mounted EV chargers. Australia has roughly 7,000 public chargers serving a fleet of about 21 million vehicles, which leaves a large gap. Standard power poles are being trialed as a low-footprint way to add charging where people already park. Pole-mounted units place slower, lower cost charging on residential streets, which matters in dense suburbs where many residents lack off-street parking. The promise is simple, charge at home curbside, keep energy costs low, and preserve the core financial appeal of owning an EV.
The biggest risk is not the hardware, it’s who controls it. Distribution networks that manage poles sit in a strong position to own and operate these chargers. Without careful rules, pricing could mirror retail electricity, where inattentive customers pay a quiet premium. Lawmakers face a clear choice, regulate utility ownership tightly or enable third-party providers to build, maintain, and compete on service and price. Strong oversight keeps the savings with drivers rather than with monopolies.
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We Need to Switch to BYOC
Too often, EV drivers are left searching for functional fast chargers because cables have been cut and stolen. Bring your own cable (BYOC) is a socket only EV charger model where the driver plugs a personal cable between the car inlet and a curbside charger outlet. The approach is becoming common across Europe, especially the United Kingdom’s lamp column chargers and municipal curbside networks in the Netherlands and Germany. Pilots are emerging in several US cities and campuses. Hardware is simpler, which lowers cost and shortens installation timelines. Uptime improves because there is no permanently tethered cable to cut, steal, or vandalize. If damage occurs, the driver replaces a cable rather than taking a whole post out of service. Maintenance is lighter, connectors stay cleaner, and streetscape clutter drops. Retailers and councils gain dependable availability, steadier revenue, and safer sidewalks, while drivers get predictable neighborhood charging.
Look for Programs in Your State
With the recent drop in Federal EV infrastructure funding, many states are stepping up to fill the gap. For example, in California, the state is now covering up to $8,500 per Level 2 EV charging port in eligible multi-unit buildings. The project is run by CALSTART, which manages the Communities in Charge program. It provides funding and support for installing EV chargers at multifamily housing complexes like apartments. As history has shown, California often leads policy initiatives which other states emulate.
EV Charging Can Help to Fix a Solar Problem
In many parts of the U.S., suburban rooftops generate abundant midday solar that often goes underused because demand is low. In the evening, demand grows as lights, cooking, and HVAC rise while solar output falls, which forces a fast ramp from traditional power plants. Distributing curbside charging across these same suburbs turns parked cars into a flexible sponge for excess midday power generation. Daytime top-ups lower curtailment, stabilize the grid, and sell clean energy back to residents at attractive rates.
We Need to Install Chargers Faster
One example of how EV chargers can be installed faster is the Seattle based EV charger company Electric Era. They recently installed a six-stall charging system in a record 54 days at a Costco in North Port, Florida. This process can commonly take up to two years. The team signed on April 7, submitted drawings and permits by April 18, delivered hardware by mid-May, and energized the site on May 30. The location launched with three units serving six stalls, each unit offering CCS and NACS plugs.
The system uses on site batteries to curb peak demand and shrink the site’s grid pull by up to 70%. Lower draw means fewer utility upgrades, less need for expensive and time-consuming trenching, and faster approvals.
Each charger is rated at 200 kWh and targets 20 to 60 minutes for an 80% fill, which fits typical retail dwell times. Sites run with 24 by 7 monitoring, automatic fault detection, and over the air updates. The company reports 98.5% uptime per port and more than 90% session reliability, with a 96% positive PlugShare rating.
This project shows how battery backed, vertically managed deployments can compress timelines while lifting reliability and retail value. Faster installs, strong uptime, and tight retail integration create a template that other high traffic sites can copy. If this playbook scales nationally, EV drivers get dependable plugs where they already shop, utilities avoid expensive peaks, and retailers convert charging minutes into loyal customers.
All Retailers Want to Attract More Customers – Leverage This
Retailers want reliable charging that grows sales without multiyear construction or torn up parking lots. Battery buffered hardware can bypass long utility queues, which protects grant timelines and brings revenue online faster. The business case improves as more EVs hit the road and utilization rises.
EV chargers installed in retail parking lots can tie directly into retail operations. Loyalty program integration and point of sale connections tie charging to customer rewards. Large screens can support promos and ads, which turn dwell time into measurable in store visits and higher basket sizes.
Bottom Line
Communities benefit from having more EV chargers. More public EV chargers increase a communities livability index, spark foot traffic, longer store visits, and cleaner air for towns. Retailers near fast chargers see dwell times of 20 to 40 minutes, which supports higher basket sizes and incremental impulse purchases.
Capital costs are offset by grants that can cover up to 80 percent of eligible expenses, while energy margins, session fees, and advertising screens create diversified revenue. Typical sites reach positive cash flow as utilization climbs past 10 to 15 percent, with simple payback in roughly two to five years in busy locations.
The payback time is faster for battery buffered projects that avoid utility upgrades. Local governments gain sales tax from added retail activity, attract new employers, and reduce noise and tailpipe pollution, which improves livability and real estate appeal.
Please Drop Your Thoughts in the Comments Below
If you live in an apartment and own an EV, what is your weekly charging routine, workplace Level 2, public Level 2, or DC fast charging?
What would make you choose one apartment over another, dedicated parking with Level 2, outlets near spaces, or curbside posts?
Chris Johnston is the author of SAE’s comprehensive book on electric vehicles, “The Arrival of The Electric Car.” His coverage on Torque News focuses on electric vehicles. Chris has decades of product management experience in telematics, mobile computing, and wireless communications. Chris has a B.S. in electrical engineering from Purdue University and an MBA. He lives in Seattle. When not working, Chris enjoys restoring classic wooden boats, open water swimming, cycling and flying (as a private pilot). You can connect with Chris on LinkedIn and follow his work on X at ChrisJohnstonEV.
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Source: torquenews.com
