Over the past few years, landlords have been installing charging stations in apartment buildings, retail centers, and office buildings—sometimes without a cost for vehicle owners to use them.
Although EV charging technology is constantly being improved, landlords should start adding this amenity to their properties now, says the managing director in the real estate solutions practice at FTI Consulting in a GlobeSt.com interview. The Biden Administration’s infrastructure plan includes funding for EV charging stations and its policy will encourage the widespread adoption of electric vehicles over the next couple of decades.
Startup companies are working on new charging technology that could enable vehicles to be fully charged in just five minutes. This technology is years away from deployment, though, and landlords that install current equipment may gain a competitive advantage in the interim over those who do not.
In the more distant future, battery developers may reduce the size of batteries, making them easy for vehicle owners to change them without help from a mechanic. This would allow them to keep multiple batteries and swap a charged battery for a depleted one, and then recharge the depleted one for later use. If this technology comes to fruition, it may make charging stations largely obsolete.
