EV charging

My Multi-story condo building HOA in CA allows EV charging stations installation at Owner's underground garage deeded exclusive use common area parking spaces at their expense When we restated our CC&Rs a couple of years ago, we placed such language in it. Much of the EV CC&R language comprises requirements by CA statute.

So, you want to start with HI statutes on this topic. Your HOA attorney also should be able to give you a lot of guidance. Ours was instrumental in getting us on and keeping us on the right track. Below is the verbiage in our CC&Rs (ca. 2022). it's under Article 7 called "Use Restrictions." The language came from our HOA attorney and is, as I recall, pretty much boilerplate since such installations have become so common in Calif.

"7.3.22 Electric Vehicle Charging Stations. The Association shall have the power to establish EV charging stations in the Common Area portions of the Project for the use and enjoyment of the Owners and residents subject to any Rules adopted by the Board and charges established by the Board for use rights. The Board may also permit the installation of individual parking space EV charging stations pursuant to a community program and/or on an individual basis subject to any Rules* adopted by the Board and charges established by the Board for use rights. The application process, installation and operation of any individual EV charging station in individual parking spaces shall be in compliance with the Governing Documents for the Association and Civil Code Section 4745 as the same may be modified or replaced from time to time."

We have 16 common area Visitor Parking spaces where a charger could be installed, but the Board abandoned that idea and owners must fund their own installation. Our Lord increased the capacity of our electrical supplies to accommodate about 40 EV stations. After two years, 30 owners (of 200+ units) have added this amenity to their property.

*. Our Board will add this Rules to our Rule & Regs. See Adams-stirling.com Ap. 7 Newsletter: "Recommendation: In light of the potential for significant damage from an EV fire, the more conservative approach for associations is to require owners of EV charging stations to provide the association with a certificate of insurance naming the association as additional insured. Boards may be happy to have the extra layer of insurance if an EV catches fire in their parking structure."

** The original installation was my research-based initiative as a board member in 2018. But the Board majority was hostile despite high owner interest, so slow-walked it via aa "ad hic committee" of their buddies to "explore" the possibility. Happily, since the Board majority was abusive and secretive, 3 were voted off the board at the end of '19, and the 4th resigned and a new Board (of 7) pushed fully ahead at the beginning of '20. I'd hope that no board would be so resistant nowadays, but....be aware.

Thank you so much !

Sir, Hawaii's "right to charge" law refers to Hawaiians' right to install a charging "system that is designed in compliance with Article 625 of the National Electrical Code and delivers electricity from a source outside an electric vehicle into one or more electric vehicles." I assure you this does not include the running of extension cords from a home to a parking space. Charging via an extension cord is considered unsafe. A HOA/COA should never endorse this practice and in fact should prohibit doing it on common area.

What your HOA/COA should do is come up with a plan for letting owners install charging stations on common area (as needed).

Hawaii's law is just a few pages long and appears here: https://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/hrscurrent/vol03_ch0121-0200d/hrs0196/HRS_0196-0007_0005.htm

Yikes Jeff; I had. no idea that running extension cord on the ground was considered! IMO, your Board needs to meet with your HOA attorney on this topic ASAP. No doubt, in your sunny state, that firm has many answers for you. Yes, as I a dvise way above do check HI statutes. You might also need to know about your local municipality's requirements from their Planning Commission or similar. My HOA certainly has to get "City" approval to add extra electrical juice availability before we could move forward.

The attorney will, for example, probably advise against the Board giving ANY owner "exclusive use" of A common area space unless you have a ton of it. Your CC&Rs may not even permit giving away common area. As noted, my HOA only has 16 common area Visitor Parking spaces and nowhere else that would handle a car. We did consider having VP spaces set up with EV Chargers that would shared,, but this would have deprived residents of our 200+ condo unit some VP for their guests for the benefit of only a fraction of Units. (We're in the center of an urban area w/scarce and/or expensive of-site parking.)

In my preliminary research for my HOA, I looked at a couple of HOAs' underground garages that offered EV charging stations. I was stunned to see an extension cord from some common area fixture running ON THE FLOOR to a EV station at an owner's deeded parking space in one.

So the next HOA's board member showed me exactly what our HOA would need: Conduit running along the ceiling from the energy source to the parking space. Part of what owners paid was for the distance the conduit needed to run to reach the EV station. Some are MUCH further away than others.

I suggest that you and a board colleague visit some HOAs that have your set up, which sound like only possibilities for exterior spaces. Do these spaces happen to have roofs, e.g., as in carports?

Hey, wait, Jeff! Is your HOA single fam. res? And an owner could use their own juice, not HOA electricity to run to a EV charging station?

Btw, you need to watch out for any conflict of interest realities or optics. Might check with your GC on that. Do others on the Board have EVs too? What size is your Board? Your HOA?

Please note my use of "probably," Elle. It depends... Does my caveat of "unless you have a ton" help? I can't recall your experience with HOA EV charger installations?

But, Jeff, do offer more details on the layout of your HOA premises. Detached homes with their own driveways? Or with some sort of central parking lot???

I'm more than happy to correct any of my errors trivial or large. But I need to know what it is. Perhaps one of our kind readers will let me know since you, elle, refuse .

How does it help the OP if he has to guess what my "gross" error is??

Well, I was curious and looked up the HI statute.

Here it is:

[§196-7.5] Placement of electric vehicle charging system

In reading the statute, it sounds like they covered many things.

In reading line "c" it states near unit . What is near ?

This. This is not trivial, especially in this period where insurers are looking to drop clients.

In addition to speaking with the insurer, the board should speak with the HOA attorney and ask what the "right to charge" statute and all other laws require. Specifically ask whether and how many ways the extension cords violate the statute.

we have been in contact with the insurance agent . One of the board members is a non Hawaii attorney and wants more info and guidance before contacting GC .
I was hoping for CCR language that has been used successfully in Right to Charge states .
All of this advice has been very helpful .

First, IMO what you want are Rules and Regulations created by Boards pursuant to right to charge statutes. The only way CC&Rs would have EV charging station restrictions is if owners voted for such an amendment. Because statutes trump the governing documents (CC&Rs et cetera), there's no need to put changes required by statute to an owners' vote.

Second the statutory requirements for EV charging stations at HOAs vary so widely, from one state to another, that I recommend you look only at HOAs/COAs in Hawaii that have created such rules. For example, the differences between California's EV charging station statute and Hawaii's are not trivial. It seems Hawaii legislators are much more motivated than California legislators to incentivize people to go EV.

Hawaii's right to charge law was passed around 2010. Here are several different Hawaii condos' rules and regs that speak to EV charging stations, all apparently created after 2010:

https://www.aaliiwardvillage.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/14.-House-Rules.pdf
(keyword search for "electric vehicle," and one will see some pithy but straightforward rules)

http://dtfyamyvs1iv1.cloudfront.net/aoao/m/kauhale_makai_house_rules_2019.pdf
(see page 5; refers to the "Kauhale Makai Electric Vehicle Charging System Policy"; contact this condo and ask for a copy of the latter?)

https://cchh.blob.core.windows.net/media/koaridge/new/the-homes/document-center/malina%20phase%202/4.%20Malina%20-%20Phase%20II%20-%20Rules%20and%20Regulations%205.3.21.pdf
(from 2021; see page 5 and 6)

https://irp.cdn-website.com/fb90c9e3/files/uploaded/House%20Rules%202022.pdf
(from 2022; see page 19 and 20; consider contacting this association for more info)

Consider printing out the relevant sections; gathering more info from these condos as desired; and distributing all info at the next board meeting. Consider drafting rules that make sense to you, to be edited by the board or maybe a committee.