EV Charging for flats and apartment buildings: What are the options?

The transition to electric vehicles (EVs) is really starting to take off, with over one in five new cars sold now being electric, and nearly 85,000 public chargepoints.

For those with private, dedicated parking, choosing electric should be an easy choice – EVs are cheaper to run and maintain, saving households more than £1,000 a year. Plus, there is the convenience of being able to charge whilst you sleep.

However, for those living in flats or multi-unit dwellings, the picture is more complicated.

Many households don’t have access to a dedicated parking space, and are forced to rely on the public charging network (which is where our work to raise awareness of the need for charging solutions that improve convenience and bring down the cost of charging for those households comes in so important – cross pavement technologies, charge sharing and workplace charging all being important options in that mix).

Where parking is available, it can still be costly and complex to install sufficient chargepoints (and upgrade the underlying electricity connections) to serve the number of households who will need easy access to EV charging – let alone manage the building approvals and planning and coordination processes needed across property managers, owners and tenants.

The Government provides incentives to try to tackle this, with grants of up to £350 available for those renting and owning flats to install a chargepoint; and equivalent grants for landlords and property owners of up to £30,000 per building, or £350 per chargepoint for up to 200 chargepoints (for a residential property).

Yet, at EVA England, we still see a lot of frustration among drivers who often see their requests to install chargepoints rejected by landlords or freeholders, particularly in flat or apartment complexes.

That is why we have been raising awareness of the need for a right to request charging for tenants and leaseholders, providing appropriate safety and technical standards are met, and seeking support from MPs and Peers to help us get this right included in relevant laws.

**MP urges Government to tackle EV ‘charging divide’ and grant millions more drivers access to home charging**

Within the UK we are also starting to see a number of market providers offer wrap-around solutions that aim to support property managers, owners and residents in tackling the costs and complexity of installing adequate charging infrastructure across flat and apartment buildings.

Our new brand supporter, ChargeGuru, is one of those providers.

Here, they talk us through how they do this:

Data shows that three-quarters of flat dwellers (74%) say having somewhere to charge their car/living near an EV charger is a factor in where they decide to live.

This demand for at-home EV charging for flats comes as no surprise when our own data shows that fewer than one-third of property managers worldwide report having EV charging available in their residential properties.

Acknowledging this gap in demand and availability, we set out to identify the key challenges stalling property managers’ EV charging decisions. Through surveying 250 residential and commercial property experts, we learned that the main barriers are cost misconceptions and timeline misinformation.

Unfortunately, this confusion is leading to inaction as property managers search for suitable solutions that, often unbeknownst to them, are readily available at no cost to the property manager or owner. Property managers must be aware that practical, cost-free solutions are available to alleviate these perceived pressures.

ChargeGuru’s Fully-Funded Solution covers all infrastructure costs and associated admin, from initial grant applications through to hardware installation and ongoing maintenance, so property managers can be hands-off and stress-free. This is a mutually beneficial move that will also benefit tenants with attractive rates for charging, leaving a fairly priced solution that is significantly convenient and is, on average, 3x less expensive than public charging options.

Choosing a fully-funded solution positively impacts the value and interest in those properties long-term while improving the living situation of tenants.

ChargeGuru is Europe’s electric vehicle charging expert transforming the way EV drivers power their vehicles at home and at work.

With a proven track record of success across eight countries – including France, Spain, Portugal, Belgium, Germany, Italy, Ireland, and the UK – ChargeGuru has already made over 1.5 million parking spaces EV-ready. Dedicated to innovation and future-proof solutions, they are accelerating the transition to sustainable mobility and leading the charge towards a greener, more accessible e-mobility future.