Charging Stations for Electric Cars

I saw a couple threads 6 years old or more, but nothing more recent, so I thought I would start a new topic.

We are a community of homes built in the 1970s and early 1980s. Three quarters of the townhomes do not have garages. We're seeing more hybrids and electric cars. So far owners have been running extension cords from their house to their cars. But I don't think this will be sufficient much longer. We've received our first request to install a private charging station, which would be by the car owner's parking spot, but on common property.

Have any communities that don't already have them faced the issue of how to do this? And whether to do this? Eventually it will become a reason not to buy homes in our community as electric cars become more widely owned. As I see it, we have a choice of allowing private charging stations on common property, or installing ones that are not privately owned that anyone can use... don't know whether that's feasible or not.

Donna,

I know next to nothing about this topic but the first thing that popped into my mind is the potential danger of running extension cords from the house to the car. What happens if someone is using a cord that is not up to code and a fire starts? If the fire damages the home or common property who is liable?

Though drawing from CA civl code, a lot of progress has been made in CA and this site will be able to answer all of anyone's questions about EV charging stations

the site is vy a CA HOA law firm and is davis-stirling.com, MAIN Index, EV charging Stations. It gives you the basics and helps with wording for your ARC, etc.

VA actually may have legislation too. Your utility provider may have guidelines and/or incentives. You don't have to (excuse bad pun) reinvent the wheel on this one.

This article by a Naples, FL attorney is even better than the other one.

Say, Donna, do NOT dismiss the lessons learned from other states like CA & FL, whose large populations have probably put them at the front of the EV situation.

You might want to consider a change to the covenants to address this issue.

That was a reply to LetA.

What I mean by refresh is "remodel" or when the asphalt or concrete needs to be redone. Your reserve study lists all of your HOA's assets and each asset has a lifespan on when it needs repair or should be replaced.

For example, if you have a pool then your reserve study would say the plaster should be replaced every seven years. The asphalt needs to be resealed every 10 years. The Roof of your covered parking should be repaired or replaced every 20 years. That is an example of Reserve Study

If you are coming up on a milestone where the roof of the parking structure needs to be updated, this is the time before any work is done to look at incorporating EV provisions. Going to the homeowners with a new project and added cost won't be received well. Waiting a year or so and incorporating EV provisions during a reserve study repair will make you look like a superstar.

LetA, I know what a reserve study is. We are a HOA with townhomes, and our reserve study notes the years and the projected cost for repaving parking lots and private roads. For installing private charging stations at assigned parking spots, there is no relevance to the reserve study that I can see. If we had a parking garage, it would be different. On the possibility that the power company might plan to install some kind of hookups for future power stations at their own expense, we can inquire, but it seems doubtful. And their excavation to install private meters probably won't affect our paving.

Thanks, everyone, for all comments. There obviously isn't going to be any discussion by the board of installing stations where the HOA would pay the electricity charges. This would violate state law and HOA rules of assessments not being used for private benefit but for maintaining common property and services.

If there is a way to install some open stations where people could charge their cars while paying for it themselves (these do exist, of course) we might consider planning and budgeting for that in the future.

One nuisance is that Teslas require different charging stations than other electric cars, or so one person at our board meeting said. I have no direct experience with an electric car yet. I wonder if there is such a thing as a station that can accommodate all types.

Our power company has already told the resident requesting the charging station that they will install it with a private meter, so the only question for the HOA board is to give permission for it to be installed next to his parking space, which is on common property. My expectation is that we will approve it, since there doesn't seem to be any obstacle.

BTW, the "California is a cancer" was out of bounds. Davis-Stirling information is always helpful.

Thanks again, all. If anyone comes across any new and interesting developments, let us know!

You are correct Tim, not only that, but in order to charge batteries in multiple cars you will need higher amperage electric service from the power company. That's why charging stations for situations such as these are out of bounds because is it a financial burden on the people wanting them. And Yes I watched as NV Energy laid a special line drop for a company that wanted to charge 20 EV cars. The electric equipment just for the utility alone was massive, each charging station had 100 amp service.

Home units require 30 Amps, thats more than an electric oven and dryer. A project that the OP suggested would likely require a new service drop to the parking structure, that alone is expensive.