HOAs to See Increase in Electric Vehicle Charging Station Requests
General Motors announced plans in January to offer exclusively electric vehicles by 2035. The automaker hopes to sell 1 million cars in its electric fleet by 2025. The statement comes as community associations grapple with an increasing number of charging station installation requests and as a growing number of state and local governments focus on incentives and legislation to spur adoption.
More than 40 states and Washington, D.C., offer incentives for owning electric vehicles, and some are taking things a step further. New York, for example, offers public and private organizations that install charging stations at public parking facilities, workplaces, and multifamily apartment buildings rebates of $4,000 per charging port they install.
Eight states—Arizona, Illinois, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Utah, and Virginia—in current or recently adjourned legislative sessions have been considering measures regulating charging stations. Laws in California, Colorado, Florida, Hawaii, and Oregon require community associations to allow charging stations.
Some local governments also have specific laws in place regarding charging station installation. Community members in Boston, for example, have the right to install an electric vehicle charging station in their own parking space or in common areas that are a reasonable distance from the owner’s parking space.
CAI supports legislation that incentivizes associations that provide for electric vehicle charging but allows for the unique needs and the ability of each association to best determine the most efficient methods to provide for these needs.
GM is promoting that its vehicles will have an improved battery allowing for longer mileage ranges and quicker charging abilities. Charging stations are included with purchase on some models. In addition, GM is partnering with EVgo to triple the number of fast-charging stations in the next five years, adding over 2,700 new stations to grocery stores, retail outlets, and other high-traffic parking areas across the country. The company hopes this initiative will provide reliable, public charging access to drivers living in “multi-unit homes, renting and can’t install chargers or who don’t have workplace charging available,” according to a July 2020 post on GM’s website.
These new developments may give some reprieve to electric vehicle owners looking to install their own charging station, especially in communities with shared or garage-based parking spaces like condominiums. Nonetheless, community association board members and managers should expect charging station requests to continue.
Check out CAI’s electric vehicle charging station policy at www.caionline.org/publicpolicies.
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Ella is a Communications Associate at CAI. Prior to joining the team, she worked in communications and marketing for an educational nonprofit in Washington, D.C. and has held a variety of different roles in education, advocacy, and event planning. Ella has a B.A. in Corporate Communications & Education from Belmont University and a M.S. in Communications/PR from the S.I. Newhouse School at Syracuse University. She loves to travel, having visited over 40 states and 10 countries so far.