It is important to understand your building’s parking situation. When you are looking at potential locations for electric vehicle charging, consider the legal designation of parking stalls. If your building already has charging, then you should investigate how that location was selected. Chances are your building does not already have an electric vehicle charger so you will have to consider the following.
Charging Locations
There are three main options for electric vehicle charging locations in an apartment or townhouse:
- The electric vehicle owner’s present parking stall (for private use)
- A different resident’s parking stall, then swapping spaces (for private use)
- A “visitor parking” stall (for private or shared use)
An ideal location is a parking stall (or stalls) near an existing outlet or near the building’s electrical room, with minimal obstacles between the stall and the nearest electricity source. Distance and obstacles will increase installation costs and likely require more work by the strata. If charging in a specific location is likely to be costly because it is far away from an electricity source, it might be worth considering other options such as using visitor parking, or swapping stalls with another homeowner. How parking stalls are designated will determine if these options are feasible.