Robert Roth
1 min readNov 16, 2024

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Well in the US there is still some work to do. For folks in apartments there is no reasonable path to easy and low cost charging. That is electric power for the same price as single family. I have written about this issue. Essentially apartment owners and utilities are not willing to fund the infrastructure needed to keep pace with the potential demand. The solution, in my opinion, is fund the infrastructure with low cost government loans paid back by monthly fees from rental households who sign up for easy to use and low cost power. For example a 6 port high charger (350 kw) could service about 50 EVs and would cost $60,000. Assuming a 25 year life and 25 year loan the dedicated charging network could accessed for a few dollars a month. The electric rate could be wholesaler.
Why offer low and middle income apartment household access to easy to. use and low cost charging? Of course it is the equitable position. But it also helps boost the market for used EVs which improves new car sales with higher likely resale values.
There are other solutions to consider but they all require an investment up front. If EV are not easy to charge and with electric power rates equal to single family L2, the used EVs won’t be purchased. At leased not at their potential pace.
80% of vehicles in apartments are used. So their is time to set up infrastructure and finance that makes sense.

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Robert Roth
Robert Roth

Written by Robert Roth

Retired Intel Electrical Engineer, 70's US Navy Officer Nuclear Power Program, Graduate studies in Business UC Berkeley, BSEE U of Fla.

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