WASHINGTON, D.C. – As more and more Americans pivot away from gas-powered cars and embrace electric vehicles, one group is experiencing more growing pains than most: renters, who often find themselves without any charging stations readily available to them for juicing up their rides overnight.
Renters, especially in cities, are often finding that they don’t have designated places to plug their EVs in overnight, and they often are finding that public charging stations are frequently already in use when they get there, leaving them few – if any – options to top off their battery.
While homeowners with EVs don’t have to worry about this issue – most have a charging station in their garage – renters are increasingly growing frustrated with their inability to conveniently plug in and recharge their cars.
While many cities are attempting to increase the number of public charging stations within their limits to address the issue, in the here-and-now some people are going to extraordinary means to get a charge, including running power cords out of their windows into the street, or waiting in long lines to access public chargers.
In September, the Biden Administration allocated $5 billion to construct a series of high-speed chargers along interstate highways over the course of the next five years; in addition, states can apply for a grant from an additional pool of $2.5 billion to construct their own public chargers, particularly in highly-populated urban regions.
While the future is looking brighter for renters that own electric cars, Jeff Allen – Executive Director of equitable EV charging advocate Forth – said that the here-and-now is proving to be very difficult.
We have a really large challenge right now with making it easy for people to charge who live in apartments,” he said. “Cities have to understand that promoting electric cars is also part of their sustainable transportation strategy. Once they make that mental shift, there’s a whole bunch of very tangible things they can – and should – be doing.”
Joe Mcdermott is a journalist, reporter and writer for Auto Buyers Market as well as other independent news and media organizations in the United States. Joe works on a wide variety of topics and fields, has been featured in print and online in a variety of publications, from local to national, and helps keep a keen-eye on what’s happening in the automotive world for Auto Buyers Market.