A few key stats explain why the world’s largest commercial real estate services and investment firm wants to add EV chargers to apartments and condos.
First of all: Nearly a third of US households live in multifamily housing. Secondly, upward of 80% of EV charging is done at home––but only about 5% of multifamily housing has on-site charging.
That’s quite the gap, one that CBRE aims to fill by teaming up with 3V, an EV charging infrastructure startup, and installing Level 2 charging stations at multifamily properties around the country.
“Property owners recognize tenants are asking for this amenity. In some cases, it will be a deciding factor. They will not rent a property in an apartment building that does not have charging, because they have an EV already,” Mark Kerstens, VP of EV charging solutions at CBRE, told Tech Brew.
“For others, it may be a factor in their decision-making criteria as they look to move into an apartment or renew their lease,” he added. “Property owners recognize this and want to make sure they have the amenities that their clients are looking for. This helps fill apartment buildings. This helps justify whatever the rent is, or maybe even an opportunity to increase the rent.”
Teamwork: Under the new partnership, “CBRE will utilize its extensive network of commercial property owners to help match 3V with multifamily properties looking to provide residents with a reliable EV charging amenity,” according to a news release.
3V will finance, operate, and own the chargers. The startup’s charging-as-a-service business model is predicated on the idea that installing EV charging infrastructure is a time-consuming, complex undertaking that property owners might prefer to outsource without any up-front capital expenditures.
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The partnership could expand to other types of properties in the future.
“Across the board, no matter what the asset type is…we see this as a relatively low-cost but highly sought-after amenity,” Kerstens said.
Solutions needed: Access to reliable charging has long been one of the biggest barriers to EV adoption. At the same time, EV sales have continued to grow year over year––underscoring the need for additional charging options that meet drivers’ needs.
Charging at home is the preferred solution for those who can install a charger in their garage. And plenty of ongoing efforts are focused on building out a reliable network of public chargers––although the Trump administration has moved to rescind federal support for such efforts as part of broader efforts to roll back policies that support electrification.
“Any of the public dollars that were going to charging were going to public charging, and we’ve always focused on private charging, so those changes don’t affect 3V, specifically, that much,” 3V CEO Aubrey Gunnels told Tech Brew. “But I think it does make a stronger case for the importance of private charging and how getting more private dollars in that space is really important.”
Federal policy changes could very likely influence the rate of EV adoption. But both Gunnels and Kerstens said that regardless of the slope of the demand curve, there’s plenty of interest to justify projects like this.
“EVs aren’t going anywhere. So we need to still make sure there’s access to charging,” Gunnels said. “Even if you say 10% of drivers in the US [will] drive an EV in 2030, which is well below any predictions currently, that is still 10% of a building’s residents that drive an EV.”