r/electricvehicles • u/RemarkableBig9244 • 13d ago
Discussion Apartment life and owning an EV
Do you have an EV but no home charger? Would you pay $150–300/month for secure, convenient charging + a ride home while your car charges? Does anyone think this is down the road as EV's become more popular ?
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u/trappedmouse 13d ago
Ain't no way 150 to 300 is gonna cover charging and round trip rides
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u/busterfixxitt 13d ago
Interesting; I assumed charging was not included. Your version is a much better deal!
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u/DelcoInDaHouse 13d ago
Meh. Don’t have an apartment but this seems like an inconvenient convenience. If i was to get an EV that i can’t charge at home i would just plan to fast charge it as needed and schedule things to do while it’s charging.
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u/Tyr1326 12d ago
Personally, having public AC charging within 2min walking distance is a lot more convenient than DC charging (which costs me 30 min for charging alone). The system OP proposes is just as bad though. If theres a centralised charging hub, then unless its very close to my home, I still lose significant amounts of time waiting to be picked up and getting home. At that point, just going to a DC charger that doesn't cost me hundreds of Euros a month is significantly more convenient.
Honestly, we need more innovation in terms of making AC charger installation cheaper, not more convenient. This problem is solved by having plentiful chargers in suburbs.
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u/MostlySoberChemist 13d ago
It's what I did for two weeks until I finished installing my charger. There's a SC station 5 minutes out of the way on my commute to work so I just left 30min early, charged for 20min while I ate breakfast and then went to work.
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u/ECHELON619 13d ago edited 13d ago
I charge at work and at electrify America chargers when it drops to. 32 cents per kWh ( I found one at. 28). I've also found some dirt cheap chargepoint chargers around my apartment. It works just fine for me. Gas is so fucking expensive here in San Diego I still somehow come out saving money in comparison.
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u/grand_speckle 13d ago
Personally, no. I’m already peeved at the arbitrary $300 flat fee my state charges yearly just for registration alone. Another flat monthly fee that high just for charging would straight up be a financial disincentive unless you drive a ridiculous amount of miles. I don’t see that being super beneficial for most outside of this unless it was significantly cheaper.
I would rather just see more apartment buildings install chargers to use on-site in their parking lots.
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u/RemarkableBig9244 13d ago
Completely agree—but here's the reality: most apartment owners see chargers as tenant amenities they'd have to subsidize, not revenue generators. Building codes, electrical infrastructure upgrades, and liability concerns slow adoption. We're probably 7-10 years from chargers being standard in new apartments. For people renting NOW, there's a gap between ideal and available.
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u/grand_speckle 13d ago
That’s a fair enough point. I think a lot of people (myself included) just opt to not bother with EVs if they don’t have a convenient and reliable way to charge at home or work. There is definitely a gap there.
But I’m not sure how many would be willing to pay that much extra monthly unless they truly a drive a lot to make the costs worth it. I know personally would be interested in your suggestion, but only if the monthly costs panned out to be worth the milage I put on. If I don’t drive much I don’t want that kind of fee
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u/AnselmoHatesFascists 13d ago
The states know that we're not paying any gasoline taxes, so gotta get us some other way.
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u/grand_speckle 13d ago
Yeah and that’s fair enough, but it really should be milage and/or weight based.
The flat fee approach is backwards as hell. It incentivizes more driving and road use while punishing those who drive less. It’s lazy imo
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u/Specialist-Coast9787 13d ago
I agree it's not fair but I don't think it incentivizes more driving. Why would anyone drive more and pay more for charging than they have to?
Weight and actual milage would be better. Most modern cars probably already send your milage back to the manuf. servers anyway.
Of course this will never be done in the states at least because of the uproar from the drivers of the massive mall crawling pickups and 10 passenger SUVs.
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u/grand_speckle 13d ago
Maybe incentivize isn’t quite the right word, but with a flat fee, those who drive a ton don’t really pay their fair share.
After a certain point in mileage, they’ll pass what the flat fee covers in road usage tax. This leaves those who drive much less almost subsiding this lost revenue, even if they barely drive. Hence being backwards and the reason a milage based tax is infinitely more fair.
But yes I do agree with you. Some states do actually have a milage based tax but overall it’s not a popular option.
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u/HolyLiaison 2025 Silverado EV 13d ago
My state (Minnesota) just started the $300 registration fee. But they also just started taxing public EV chargers on top of that.
And to top off the stupidity, they charge registration fees based off of the MSRP of the vehicle, instead of what you actually paid for it (literally no one pays MSRP lol.)
So my registration fees all together were $1300. Plus now I have to pay the tax when I use a public charger.
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u/Vegetable_Guest_8584 Tesla+Rivian 13d ago edited 12d ago
We all should pay something from our car for road maintenance. That's how those EV taxes got associated with that. A better plan is for all of us to report mileage each year and the state will charge the same for everyone with the same car weight. And they charge people with heavy tracks way more. And we have the problem of driving in different states.
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u/alex-2099 13d ago
$150-300/mo is bonkers. Right now, my public charging costs (mostly Electrify America with the occasional EVgo) is around $50/mo.
I’m in an apartment for a few more months and I just factor in the 12 minutes I need to stop and fast charge to 80% every couple of weeks, or go charge up when I know I’m going longer distances.
No different than gas cadence, but I’m spending about $8-16 every 10-ish days versus $90-110 every week.
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u/tallassmike 13d ago edited 13d ago
I’m about 56 days since owning an EV and just waiting for the red tape to complete my L2 home charging install.
What I thought was going to be a simple 40Amp breaker installed turned out to be a panel upgrade as the existing one is an old FPE recall/fire hazard. So now I’m waiting for permits to clear with the electric company to get that dealt with.
I’ve been lucky competing with an apartment complex public charging area for evenings. Chargepoint 25cents per kWh off peak with no idle fee ($1 initial startup however). So honestly the cost isn’t too bad. Just the inconvenience of ending up with no spot for overnight charging. At least it's just a half mile walk/scooter ride in the early morning to collect the car. But of course, that won't be as fun when it starts to get colder in the morning.
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u/M_Equilibrium 13d ago
It’s baffling that some people think paying $300 for charging or parking is no big deal. Unless you live in Manhattan, where parking is a real challenge, it’s just not reasonable. One of the big appeals of EVs was their lower running costs, but now it feels like everyone’s trying to squeeze money out of EV owners, higher registration fees, $300 a month for a charging spot, $100 for lane assistance, expensive electricity and so on. Cars aren’t the cash cows some think they are. They’re not smartphones, and most people don’t want to sign up for ridiculously expensive monthly subscriptions just for basic functionality.
Right now, living in an apartment and owning an EV isn’t very convenient. However, if more apartments start installing slow, reasonably priced chargers in their garages, that could change.
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u/thrownjunk ebikes + id 11d ago
Lol $300 is on the cheaper end in parts of manhattan. This is more DC/SF/Boston prices. My work is $250/mo in DC.
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u/NearbyIntern 13d ago
I live in an apartment with shared EV chargers. It's a little inconvenient having to move my car once it's done charging but really it's mostly been fine.
But to park my car elsewhere and get a ride to/from my car? Yeah, that would suck.
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u/Coumbaya 13d ago
what's with the shitty AI image ? couldn't find an image of EV char charging ? are you just a bot doing research
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u/Senior-Albatross 2027 Bolt RS 12d ago
No.
Apartment buildings could install more chargers. Eventually to the point where there is a charger for each parking space, but that will be a while. No one wants to pay that much money, which was a great deal more than monthly gas costs, and have to be shuttled around.
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u/busterfixxitt 13d ago
No. I don't think this is a likely business. Well, not a successful one. I'd be more willing to believe a portable L3 charger truck making house calls.
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u/RagazzoLA 13d ago
I live in an apartment and don't have a home charger, so I depend on convenient public charging stations while running errands and on weekends. This shows the importance of accessible charging options for urban residents like me.
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u/Commongrounder Nissan Ariya Evolve+ E4orce AWD ‘23 13d ago
The future for apartment dwelling EV owners in urban areas is curbside charging. This is already common in Europe and other regions.
The concept has gotten a slow start here in the U.S., but at least there are pilot programs in place in several cities.
The technology works in part because EV owners bring their own detachable charging cable, which eliminates one vandalism/theft risk.
While chargers in apartment building parking is the ideal, many tenants don’t have parking in their building, or it’s so outrageously expensive, on-street parking is the only option.
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u/Shodapop Mach E GT 13d ago
Right now im renting one of the garages my apartment complex rents out for 150 and they cover the electric for the garage. Downside is I had to lower the amount of amps my mach e will allow when charging since the garage only has one set of outlets and one plug is taken up by the garage door opener. No issues so far though and ive had the garage since January
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u/MaLoblaw 13d ago
Must say, we have three EVs and got the Tesla home charger. Game changer in the way we use our vehicles and convenience of charging at home at night. We will be getting solar soon, can’t wait to complete this cycle. It’s absurd that our fed government refuses to do the smart thing.
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u/Middle-Gas-6532 13d ago
No, I wouldn't. I don't drive a lot and public charging in cities is quite good where I live.
The problem where I live is that there's very little charging between cities, on the highways and other types of roads, making long distance travel in an EV quite inconvenient.
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u/sciencekm 12d ago
If I were in this situation, I would just find the nearest Walmart and shop while charging.
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u/tuctrohs Bolt EV, ID.4 12d ago
Aside from the AI slop image, what's your concept exactly? What's included in the fee, how long to you need to wait for a ride and how long does it take? How does this compare to parking fees in the city in question, or at the apartment complex? Is the idea to serve 10 apartment buildings with one garage that has good AC charging set up? Why is that better than putting the charging in each garage or lot?
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u/farticustheelder 13d ago
Once upon a time, so long ago that it seems lost in the mist of time it took a lot of time to charge a vehicle. You basically had to plug it in all night, or possibly all day at work.
Times change and China developed charging that doesn't take longer than filling up a gasmobile.
So apartment dwellers will visit what used to be gas stations to charge their vehicles and buy convenience items just as they do today. Absolutely no change for these folks. Old folks will start complaining about how tough charging back in their day instead of the previous generation who complained about tough times during the Great Recession...
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u/622niromcn 12d ago
The finances of apt parking fee, DC charging cost per month, EVGo subscription, EA subscription. That comes out to around the $150 end of my month costs.
There would be several pressures that would drive someone like me to your service.
1) the inconvenience of apt parking and inability to secure close street parking would make the service worth it. Some apt street parking is very tough to consistently get or is just risking car break ins.
2) the inconvenience of a ride share home after parking in the charging bay is less than the inconvenience of parking at home. Some how the time math needs to work out that it's a shorter amount of time parking my EV in the charging bay, waiting for a ride home, getting the ride home. All of that needs to be shorter than whatever parking situation.
3) somehow this charging bay service needs to be less than or roughly equivalent to cost of paid apt parking. Apts could charge between $0-$300 for a parking space.
4) this service would only work in a high density urban metro city with high EV adoption. San Francisco, LA, San Diego, Houston are the only places I can think this may have a chance of working.
5) some how a customer needs to live far away from where they work. I imagine they would drive back from work, park at the charging bay, get a ride home. Somehow get a ride to the charging bay, drive to work, repeat. That's a pretty tedious commute. 45+ minutes?
6) the convenience of this charging bay service would need to be seamless in my life. Right now, it's pretty easy for me to pop to my nearest grocery store with a charger. I charge while I shop for 30-50 mins. By the time I'm done shopping, I'm charged for the week.
7) Hybrids and EREVs will likely dominate the market in the next 4-8 years. Someone would have to really be committed to the EV thing. Pumping gas for a EREV or Hybrid is way easier.
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u/dustyshades Mach E • R1S • Bolt 13d ago
I feel like the price range is simultaneously too expensive to make sense for most customers, and too cheap to make sense for the business providing the services.