Driving the R-EV-olution Home!

Electric Vehicle Charging is the New Must-Have Amenity in Multi-Unit Housing

Lately, our team here at American Energy Services has seen a marked increase in interest surrounding Electric Vehicle Charging Stations from property management firms. In fact, we’re gearing-up to install EV Charging Stations at The Isle Apartments in Philadelphia and Woodside Village Condominiums in Silver Spring, MD—with many more multi-unit projects in the works!

And when we hit the road last month to attend the National Apartment Association’s Apartmentalize conference in Denver, CO, the conversations were no different. We spoke to hundreds of property managers, facility directors and other multi-unit housing professionals over the three day event, a good third of whom stopped in their tracks to ask about our ChargePoint display and express their need to install EV chargers ASAP!

The Times are A-Changin’

Multi-unit housing is growing in rural and major metropolitan areas alike. Take Washington, D.C., for example. In the five years leading up to 2018, 180 NEW apartment and condominium buildings—comprising of 22,348 units—were constructed within the District. On the same note, Terra Haute, a small rural town on Indiana’s western border, has the country’s highest concentration of new multi-family construction at 68% of all new housing development.

Along with this boom comes a need to cater to a wide range of tenant types and lifestyles. From small, beachfront condominium communities to large, multi-national firms, this industry—with a keen understanding of their tenants’ current and future needs—is doing all it can to keep up with the times in all aspects of their properties. With over a quarter of the U.S. population living in multi-unit housing, the need to appeal to a number of different demographics is more important than ever.

Plugging-in to the New Normal

We’ve been talking a lot about EV charging here on the blog, and with good reason. As we’ve previously noted, by 2030, experts forecast more than 18.7 million electric vehicles will be on U.S. roads, with about 9.6 million charge ports needed to support them. In fact, of the 11 states that make up the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic regions, six have committed to having a combined 1.7 million electric vehicles on their roads by 2025. That means, if all goes to plan, about one out of every ten cars will be electric!

As this cool graphic illustrates, today there now are more EV buying options than ever. Gone are the days when only the elite drove novelty plug-in vehicles. Today’s EV drivers have jam-packed schedules. They rise early to tackle traffic before running from appointments to soccer games to the grocery store, and if they’re lucky, grabbing a bite with friends before finally retiring at the end of the day. For many of these drivers, the only time they have to charge their vehicle is while they sleep. And so many of them are turning-in for the night in multi-unit housing communities.

According to the National Multifamily Housing Council, 65% of renters are interested in properties that promote sustainability and green initiatives, including Electric Vehicle Charging stations. Installing EV charging stations at your community will show your commitment to understanding your tenants’ changing needs and draw in new, environmentally-conscious renters.

Taking our EV Charging Services National

Apartmentalize—the year’s largest and most exciting MUH event with over 10,000 attendees and more than 550 exhibitors—was the perfect opportunity for conference attendees to learn more about the AES Model within the MUH industry. AES’s new nationwide footprint allows the company to approach the industry in a way it never before could.

AES is now uniquely positioned to work with the country’s largest property management companies on their entire portfolios, without the constrictions of location or size.