Experiences and perceptions of Multi-Family housing property managers about electric vehicle charging provision

Abstract

To achieve Transportation Electrification goals, electric vehicle (EV) adoption will have to expand well beyond the typical early EV adopters, who tend to be older, better educated, with higher income, multiple household vehicles, and who live in single-family detached homes. EV adoption by residents of multi-unit residential buildings (MURBs) lags far behind, dampening adoption of EVs and potentially creating an equity gap across income and race categories. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with a sample of 30 MURB property managers in the Phoenix metro area to understand how they think about investments in EV charging infrastructure. The interviews were analyzed to identify concerns, constraints, and opportunities to promote faster electric vehicle supply equipment (EVSE) deployment in MURBs, and to understand how deployment dynamics influence equity implications for renters. To do this, the proposed research questions were: 1) What are the perceptions of MURBs managers about charging infrastructure demand and installation? 2) What experiences have MURB managers had regarding installing and/or managing charging infrastructure? and 3) What does the current layout for MURBs complexes look like, and what limitations are there in the existing infrastructure? We found that apartment complexes present financial constraints for charging infrastructure installation when retrofitting charging infrastructure. New business models that can make EV charging profitable are needed, and there are limitations in electrical infrastructure requirements. Access to charging infrastructure presents equity issues among different renter income groups because properties catering to higher-income residents are more inclined to install EVSE compared to rental properties serving lower-income residents.