Apartment Renters Get a Long-Awaited Charging Fix

ChargePoint and OBE Power announced an expanded partnership in May to bring electric vehicle charging to apartment buildings and condominiums across North America, a market that has lagged badly behind single-family homes. The companies plan to install roughly 2,500 charging ports beginning immediately. The move targets what energy researchers consider one of the largest remaining barriers to electric vehicle adoption: reliable charging access for renters

According to the Department of Energy, 80 percent of electric vehicle charging happens at home. Yet only about 5 percent of rental properties in the United States currently offer on-site charging, leaving nearly 70 million Americans in apartments and condos without easy access to overnight power

ChargePoint chief executive Rick Wilmer said the partnership was designed to close that gap by pairing the company's charging technology with OBE Power's ownership model, which removes upfront costs for property owners. Under that model, OBE Power covers energy costs, maintenance, insurance and repairs, while ChargePoint supplies hardware and software

The arrangement shifts financial risk away from landlords who have historically balked at the capital outlay charging stations require. Surveys lend weight to the strategy

Plug In America found that 85 percent of current EV owners, and 84 percent of prospective buyers, cite affordable home charging as the most important factor in their decision to buy. Renters without that access report far less interest, with just 18 percent of apartment residents saying they are very likely to consider an electric vehicle, a figure that has fallen from prior years

As charging networks expand along highways, the divide between homeowners with garages and renters without driveways is increasingly shaping who can realistically go electric. Closing that gap, the companies argue, is no longer a side issue but a central one for mass adoption