Everything You Need to Know About Electric Vehicle Charging in Multifamily

EVs are rapidly gaining market share. How are developers tackling EV charging in their new and existing multifamily properties?

Thesis Driven dives deep into emerging themes and real estate operating models by featuring a handful of operators executing on each theme. This week’s letter is a deep dive on electric vehicle charging in multifamily properties.

Electric vehicles are finally having their moment. 7.1% of all light vehicles sold in the United States in January 2023 were electric, an increase of 74% year-over-year and ahead of pace versus already-bullish estimates showing US EV penetration increasing to almost 30% by 2030. The Inflation Reduction Act’s restoration of the $7,500 tax credit for EV purchases was a major factor, but EVs are also getting more affordable on their own with traditional car manufacturers like Chevrolet, Ford, and VW gaining market share from Tesla with lower-priced EV options. The 2023 Chevy Volt starts at only $27,495, a decrease of almost $11,000 from 2021’s model and new ground for a fully-electric car.

And this week, the EPA is likely to introduce new regulations that would require as many as two thirds of all new vehicles sold by 2032 be electric.

Industry projections of EV sales share from 2021. Based on recent data and the incentives provided by the IRA, this is increasingly looking like an underestimate.

This may be exciting, but it presents a clear problem for multifamily owners and developers. As electric vehicles proliferate, apartment tenants and condo buyers are increasingly demanding overnight vehicle charging capabilities—capabilities that are quickly exceeding the charging needs developers anticipated when buildings were planned only a few years ago. 

And in the world of EV charging, planning ahead has real benefits: adding additional power and EV charging capacity can be particularly expensive and challenging in an existing, stabilized asset. Fortunately, developers and owners have a number of options to tackle the problem, from new EV charging providers and technical innovations to emerging financing mechanisms that can turn a headache into a profit center.

Historical trends of electric vehicles’ global market share and new vehicle registrations by country. Source: IEA.

Today we’ll hear from a number of multifamily developers on how they’re approaching the need for EV chargers on their properties as well as several technology companies with novel EV charging solutions for multifamily buildings.