It seems it can be done. While most U.S. residential builders look askance at the idea of providing even basic wiring for EV charging, a Canadian developer has provided Level 2 chargers in every one of the almost 2,000 parking spaces under a pair of condominium towers in a suburb of Vancouver.
It’s the largest charger-equipped parking lot in the world and its just one of several 100% EV-ready parking facilities Concord Pacific Development has installed at its planned residential communities. The Vancouver-based developer works in Canada, England and Seattle, Wash.
It installs the EV chargers as part of its corporate dedication to “the concept of sustainability through electrification,” according to Peter Webb, Concord’s senior vice president for development.
The multilevel parking facility at the Concord Hillside development in Burnaby, a city of nearly 275,000 in the the metro Vancouver area, is equipped with 1,974 level 2 chargers, half of them individually metered to specific dwelling units.
The development was designed with an electrical system that can provide full power even if all chargers were in use at the same time, Webb said in an interview with Sustainable Biz Canada, an on-line business journal.
It’s The Future
Only about 20% of the EV chargers are in regular use now, Webb said, adding that he expects 50% of the development’s residents to have EVs ultimately.
Burnaby now has an ordinance requiring all new residential parking to be EV-ready with wiring for Level 2 charging (240-volts, required for Level 2 chargers). But the Hillside parking facility was outfitted before that requirement.
Providing EV chargers “protects the homeowner’s invgersment, said Webb. He said Concord believes that condos without EV chargers will fetch lower prices in the future. ““We’re anticipating what our buyers want. So clearly, in Concord, we believe that the future is electric vehicle-ready parking stalls for all of the homeowners in high-density environments,” he said the Sustainable Biz Canada interview.
The builder already provides EV chargers at developments in Vancouver and Toronto in Canada and in England at central London’s Marylebone Square and said it has thousands of EV charger-equipped parking spaces under construction or in planning stages at other developments.