Here are a few comments we received:
Comment: Your advice for condos to accommodate owners with the need to charge their electric cars by requiring owners to sign up for a slot is wrought with administrative problems, including: settling owner disputes, managing a sign-up system and the cheating some owners will inevitably attempt.
As president of our 64-unit condo association, I have given this a lot of thought, especially since our enclosed parking lot cannot accommodate an electric plug for every owner. I’m hoping that the solution will be the improvement in technology that will enable each car owner to remove the battery and charge it in their own unit. That will eliminate the need for communal access and the numerous problems that come with it and makes the question of who foots the bill moot.
Ilyce and Sam respond: It’s an interesting idea, but, unfortunately, we’re stuck (for now) with the electric car charging systems we have. More owners are buying electric cars and need a way to charge them. It’s forcing more condominium associations to deal with this issue and decide where and how to install car chargers and how to allocate the initial and ongoing costs (plus how to allocate the usage). It won’t be easy to make these decisions, but wishing for portable batteries won’t solve this problem anytime soon.
Comment: Charging an electric vehicle is not a simple matter when it comes to condos or apartments, generally referred to as multiunit dwellings. Electric vehicles can be charged with a Level 1-120v charger or a Level 2-240-volt charger. Available data suggest that most vehicle owners will charge overnight at home. In a condominium or similar building, a consideration is whether the building has a parking garage or lot with reserved or dedicated parking spaces or if an attendant parks vehicles randomly in the first available space.
Level 1 charging is via a common wall outlet. With this approach, an outlet must be located near the parked electric vehicle. Level 1 charging is slow, like filling a gas tank through a straw. Having multiple wall outlets in a garage doesn’t present any major issue.
Level 2 charging presents some issues for associations. There are limitations on the electric load that can be placed on the building’s electric grid, and it may only have the ability to handle one or two Level 2 charging stations. Some municipal governments are now requiring new residential construction to install electric supply grids to accommodate electric vehicle charging.
Overall, it’s a complex issue. Automakers are aware of the issue and are working with the Department of Energy and others for solutions. Electric vehicles work very well in large, densely populated cities. The charging infrastructure is an issue that needs addressing. For example, how do we charge all the cars that park on the street overnight?
Ilyce and Sam respond: Thank you for your insightful comments on charging electric vehicles, especially your question about charging cars that park on public roadways. We are seeing local municipalities pay for charging stations as a public service.
As far as association parking, if an assigned parking spot is adjacent to that owner’s living space, the ability to charge the vehicle is easier. But when it comes to large parking areas, the ability to charge vehicles is complicated, as we discussed in our prior column. It’s not impossible, but you need flexibility on the owners’ side and a board or management company willing to figure out the best way to handle as many electric vehicles as possible while making it fair for all owners.
There’s more than one right way to do this, by the way.
Comment: Our condo building pays for the electrical power for all 12 units and 12 parking spaces. What happens if someone purchases an electric car? How does that unit pay more for their additional use of the power?
Ilyce and Sam respond: Your association would need to set up a system where it could meter the usage for the electric vehicle user and bill their account for the electric usage. We suspect there are companies out there that have these systems available for purchase or rent that can be used by associations. We also suspect that there are now companies that allow charging of vehicles with the use of mobile apps on phones.
Your association would need to determine the best system that would allow the electric vehicle owners to simply charge their cars and get billed for the electric usage much the way everyone else visits a gas station and pays by credit or debit card.
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February 02, 2022 at 06:04PM
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Perspective | Readers sound off on the difficulties condo associations face accommodating residents with electric vehicles - The Washington Post
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