Recently made a temporary move to the Seattle area. Prior to that I owned a house and I had a NEMA 14-50 outlet installed so daily charging was never a problem.
My move was going to be into an apartment and I naturally wanted one with secure parking, a reserved spot for my car with an AC outlet right there so I could continue living my convenient electric lifestyle. Ugh - what a rude awakening. Of the first 4 or so apartments I looked at, 3 didn't even have AC outlets anywhere in the garage and the 4th one wouldn't let me use one to charge my car. In all the cases, I wasn't the first person to ask about EV charging - so those leasing offices know potential renters want them.
When weighing the pros/cons or each apartment, I listed where the closest public charging station would be and the cost. So rather than plugging in every night when I got home and leaving every morning with a "full tank", I figured that every few days I would leave my car at a public charging station for several hours and then move it back to the apartment garage when it was done. This wasn't terrible as there were usually charging stations within 0.5 miles. Turns out Kirkland has a lot of free public stations but Bellevue and Seattle are mostly pay stations. And I really hated paying $1/hr or more for crappy low-amp, level 2 charging. If you work someplace that offers EV charging, that helps a lot too.
I found 2 apartments that had charging stations in their parking garage (Harbor Steps in downtown Seattle, and Park Metro in Bellevue) but I would still involve moving my car and I would have to pay $1/hr. At least it would be in the secured parking garage so I wouldn't have to walk far in bad weather.
Finally, I found Avalon Towers in Bellevue. Great location, great views, pretty good apartment and each level of the parking garage has several spots reserved for low-E vehicles AND each of those spots has its own 120v AC outlet. I was able to get a reserved parking spot with the ability to charge insitu. A 120v outlet isn't great but I usually gain more miles each night than I drive - charging is usually at 4 mi/hr. I am paying the same parking rate as all the ICE vehicles but I'm not paying extra for the electricity. Not sure how long that will last. But even if they start metering it and charge normal electric rates, I'd be fine with that. I think I'm the only Tesla there but I see several Leafs parked and plugged in.
So yeah, not everyone that wants an EV has the ability to charge at their residence - especially apartments (rental or condo).
My move was going to be into an apartment and I naturally wanted one with secure parking, a reserved spot for my car with an AC outlet right there so I could continue living my convenient electric lifestyle. Ugh - what a rude awakening. Of the first 4 or so apartments I looked at, 3 didn't even have AC outlets anywhere in the garage and the 4th one wouldn't let me use one to charge my car. In all the cases, I wasn't the first person to ask about EV charging - so those leasing offices know potential renters want them.
When weighing the pros/cons or each apartment, I listed where the closest public charging station would be and the cost. So rather than plugging in every night when I got home and leaving every morning with a "full tank", I figured that every few days I would leave my car at a public charging station for several hours and then move it back to the apartment garage when it was done. This wasn't terrible as there were usually charging stations within 0.5 miles. Turns out Kirkland has a lot of free public stations but Bellevue and Seattle are mostly pay stations. And I really hated paying $1/hr or more for crappy low-amp, level 2 charging. If you work someplace that offers EV charging, that helps a lot too.
I found 2 apartments that had charging stations in their parking garage (Harbor Steps in downtown Seattle, and Park Metro in Bellevue) but I would still involve moving my car and I would have to pay $1/hr. At least it would be in the secured parking garage so I wouldn't have to walk far in bad weather.
Finally, I found Avalon Towers in Bellevue. Great location, great views, pretty good apartment and each level of the parking garage has several spots reserved for low-E vehicles AND each of those spots has its own 120v AC outlet. I was able to get a reserved parking spot with the ability to charge insitu. A 120v outlet isn't great but I usually gain more miles each night than I drive - charging is usually at 4 mi/hr. I am paying the same parking rate as all the ICE vehicles but I'm not paying extra for the electricity. Not sure how long that will last. But even if they start metering it and charge normal electric rates, I'd be fine with that. I think I'm the only Tesla there but I see several Leafs parked and plugged in.
So yeah, not everyone that wants an EV has the ability to charge at their residence - especially apartments (rental or condo).
