Charging Stations for Electric Vehicles
Earlier, I mentioned the 3 types of electrical chargers for EV cars. Some Associations might consider Level III charging as an option. These chargers are very expensive. A single Level III fast charger can cost as much as $50,000 to purchase and install. So, you shouldn’t even bother thinking about them.
Anyhow, this would be a good time for a little deeper dive into charging stations.
The Association board must first consider whether to allow installation of charging stations at all. A request to install a charging station is usually treated the same as other architectural applications.
Single-family neighborhoods don’t typically see many applications for installation of a charging station, since the charging station is usually located in a person’s garage. For those rare situations where they’re submitted, the Association can usually follow its general architectural approval process. And that’s that.
However, for condominiums, the effect of a charging station usually requires a lot more thought. Very often, a request to install a charging station involves putting it in or near a parking space. Usually, the parking spaces are in areas where the Association has maintenance obligations. These spaces may be in common areas or limited common areas. Even if the installation and maintenance of the charging station will be the obligation of an individual owner, architectural approval is usually required.
Associations with responsibility over the location of installation should require a binding agreement that makes the installing owner responsible for all costs associated with the charging station, including its potential removal.
This agreement should be executed, notarized and recorded with the County Register of Deeds against that owner’s unit so that future owners of that unit are bound by that agreement. This is important so that there’s no question about who’s responsible for any costs associated with the charging station. And who’s liable for any damage resulting from its existence.
If the charging station is entirely owned by the unit owner, that agreement may be unneeded unless your governing documents make the Association responsible for maintenance.
One of the important issues is who pays for the cost of installation and use. Now, that’s not an issue where the charging station will be installed in a common area and meant for use of everybody in the Association. The Association is responsible for that cost. But, if your Association does install a “common use” charging station, the Association is probably going to have to create rules and regulations regulating its use, especially as demand increases.
For your Condo Association, it may be appropriate for the Association to pay for infrastructure upgrades to support EV chargers, then have the owners pay for the actual charger installation cost.
What Association boards should be doing now is to create a policy for handling requests for installation of charging stations.
Association boards should review their governing documents and analyze available parking areas to evaluate potential locations for charging stations. You want to have your attorney review your governing documents to determine whether the selected location(s) are common elements, limited common elements or part of an owner’s unit. In some cases, the board has authority to assign common elements for the exclusive use of an owner. In other cases, not.
Parking rights, and a board’s ability to make changes to them, vary. Often, boards don’t have the legal authority without a vote of the owners to make needed changes to facilitate installation of charging stations. In which case, the unit owner wanting to install a charging station should be prepared for the additional cost of obtaining that vote.
Association rules should address issues of: Who can use the charging stations; When and for how long; How payments are to be made; Length of charging time; And fines for vehicles left too long in charging spaces.
Think about the situation where the Association has to maintain the charging station for all residents. In that case, the board should install surveillance cameras to monitor those stations.
It’s also possible that the Association will have to grant an easement to the power company to install wires and other equipment. In some cases the board is able to grant the needed easement. In other cases, this is going to take a vote of the owners.
Some of the main benefits of EV charging in communities are increased property values and meeting the needs of current and future owners.
The growing demand for electric vehicles means your community must start preparing for current and increased demand for EV charging stations in the condo. This may create challenges in navigating infrastructure requirements, legal implications, management concerns and even aesthetics.
When considering the installation of charging stations, a few parties need to weigh in:
· The EV owners
· The Association board members
· The management staff (assuming you have a property manager)
· The owners
· The electric utility provider (in other words, OPPD)
· An engineer or qualified electrical contractor.
Consider creating an advisory committee that will talk to experts on this topic, such as other communities that have a completed EV infrastructure, your local power company, a qualified contractor and more.
If your condo doesn’t have assigned or owned parking spaces, implementing several charging stations for the entire community may be the best solution. However, the Association will need to consider the limitations of electrical infrastructure or even the lack of space. Another factor to consider is the EV charger’s distance to the building’s electric panel, as that’s a factor in determining installation costs.
Checklist
This project should follow this sequence:
1. Engage a consulting engineering firm with experience in electrical distribution design for buildings to provide an assessment of the building’s electrical configuration. I’ve been provided with much of this information by George Morrissey (402-880-9001 gmorrissey@morrisseyengineering.com). He’s given me invaluable advice and has done assessments for several condo buildings. If electrical blueprints of the existing system in the building are available, this process can be expedited. Your consulting engineer and the building assessment should include the following scope of work:
a. Conduct a site visit to review existing conditions. The engineer meets with the Association to understand the parameters of the assessment.
b. The engineer obtains utility information for the service that may be connected to determine available capacity. Typically, this will be a “House” service that supports common areas such as garage spaces.
c. Calculate available capacity of House service for EV charges. Determine the number of charges that can be supported.
d. Develop a concept sketch of electrical distribution modifications that meets the needs of the Association. Provide recommendations for phasing the work to make financing the work more manageable.
e. Provide an estimate of construction costs for the project.
f. Develop a report that describes the work. This would include recommendations of the type of charge along with recommendations for payment of electrical costs.
g. Meet with the Association to review the report.
2. When funding is secured, engage the consulting engineer to prepare construction documents for implementing the concept.
3. Solicit bids for construction from qualified electrical contractors.
4. Select an electrical contractor from the bids received.
5. Commence and complete construction.
Paying for Installation
In most cases, residents pay for the installation of the charging station in their personally owned or assigned parking spaces. In cases where numerous residents are requesting stations, the Association may choose to allow the installation of one or more charging stations in public spots rather than the owners’ assigned/owned spaces. In this case, Association has various options to determine who will pay for the chargers if they are a shared amenity.
If the electric infrastructure is not equipped to accommodate individual charging stations, the Association will generally pay for these system upgrades.
I recently asked one Condo Association president what his condo was doing to facilitate EV charging. He said that some of his owners were installing their own personal EV charging stations in their own parking stall (all located underground). Each owner’s charging station is tied to that owner’s electrical box. And that’s all he needed to do.
But is that really practical? Can individual owners continue to install their own EV equipment? Probably not. At some point, there’s not going to be enough electricity in the building to serve other owners. Which means that early adopters will be happy, but everybody else is froze out.
Paying for Energy
In addition to the installation costs, the electrical consumption costs must also be considered. A few options for communities are:
1. Institute a flat monthly fee. Light users may not want to share the financial burden of heavy uses.
2. The Association covers the additional electricity costs. This may be an issue with owners who drive conventional vehicles and don’t want to contribute to the higher utility costs through their Association dues.
3. Implement an automatic charging accounting system or partner with a third-party service provider. While these solutions incur added administrative fees, they ensure that each user pays for their energy use while freeing management to focus on property operations. This is the most popular option for condo Associations that wish to add value to their owners without incurring an additional burden.
Your monthly billing can include fees to allow your Association to recoup infrastructure costs.
Some additional thoughts:
When deciding if you want to install charging stations, consider:
· Do you have space?
· Will you lose revenue-generating space by installing a common use charger?
· Should you lease the equipment, instead of owning it?
· Who will maintain the equipment? The Association or third-party?
· Do you need additional language concerning parking agreements, such as liability waivers?
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