Has anyone considered......

With the influx of electric and plug in hybrid vehicles; and pending legislation and tax advantages that could result in more of them on the road.... has anyone installed or considered installing charging stations on their property for resident use? Has anyone installed them on new developments or existing ones? Would you consider installing them if a resident purchases one or an applicant has one?

I'm aware of couple of our clients (Prpty Firms) is considering this. The approach has to be from an amenities point of view - Not a profit maker. Charging stations are presented(sold) as Profit Makers. Which can lessen the pain of the investment.

At that point I revert to another client(Parking Garage)that installed 18 over 2 years ago and still has a bit to go before the project turns from Red to Black.

Though ideas, concepts and legislation is place, where are the CARS?

I was not considering this as a potential profit center; I was thinking these should be installed with the same concept as offering free wireless internet for your residents as an amenity (whether it is strictly in the common areas or property wide). What options are there for these to be installed as an amenity? At what cost? Can this justify a small additional cost to the rent, or would you run it like the coin/card based laundry machines so that only residents that need the access use them?

Hello Johnny,

At this point in time, I would wait for a couple of reasons. At present and this again would also depend on what part of the country you are living in, I do not see it as a current investment that will gain a community, the management company, or the owners anything because it is not that common at present.

The costs for these stations are high at the moment like the handheld calculators were at first. Once the demand goes up and there are more makers out there in the field then the product will be cheaper and as the market has more vehicles out there then there is the need to maybe add these stations.

Vision is good and for sure I would be looking at and keeping tabs on progress, because as time goes along there will be improvements and for those that get this now they will have to contend with upgrades.

This is one feature if I were an owner I would wait a bit longer, but start planning now and looking as time goes along the demand as well as the costs. You know that big word "ROI"

Ok, what would you do if you had a prospect come into your office and ask specifically about it? How many prospects would it take for you to consider it?

An alternative would be if you have garages on your property that are wired for household current that they could use.

Because there are tax credits/write offs for consumers who buy these types of vehicles; there may be incentives for property owners to install charging stations for them.

Johhny,
I did a quick Google search for press releases on this subject and found numerous. Here are just a few.

www.equityapartments.com/electric-car-charging-stations.aspx

redmond.komonews.com/news/environment/el...tment-complex/648426

We are also starting to see a lot more of marketing on this product at trade shows and apartment association events in California. I personally do not think you will see a lot of demand for this in apartments for a while, I think most people are still going to go the Hybrid route, especially if they are renters.

I remember when the first street legal electric vehicles came out in mass production.

At the time; you could not outright PURCHASE one. You could only lease them as the manufacturers wanted them back so they could disassemble and study them and the effects of 'average joe' use.

But now, we are experiencing a push for us to become less dependent on foreign oil and these 'alternative fuel' vehicles are gaining ground. I realize that this process will not happen overnight; but if the incentives remain in place, or improve we will see more of them.

Personally; I would not consider a hybrid or electric vehicle if I did not know whether or not I could 'charge' the thing when I am at home. Since I am an apartment dweller at a property that does not have them; I cannot even consider one of these vehicles for my next vehicle. I am however, in favor of the idea of having one on property.