No Garage, No Problem! Electric Vehicle Charging Expands to Apartments and Condos

No Garage, No Problem! Electric Vehicle Charging Expands to Apartments and Condos

Cool contemporary design, check.

Energy-efficient lighting and appliances, check.

Waterwise landscaping, check.

Fitness center, check.

And last but not least, electric vehicle (EV) charging stations, check.

This is what state-of-the-art apartment living looks like. It includes EV chargers as an amenity. Del Oro on Broadway, a newly opened apartment complex on the west side of Chula Vista, is part of a growing number of multi-family communities that are making it easier for their residents to drive electric.

The 80-unit development, consisting of one- and two-bedroom apartments, features 24 EV charging spaces. Under our Power Your Drive program, SDG&E’s clean transportation team collaborated with the developer to bring the chargers to Del Oro. We designed, engineered and built the charging infrastructure, and will take care of maintaining the charging stations at no additional cost, including repairs, driver calling support and billing.

Getting ahead of the game

When asked why he wanted chargers installed in his apartment complex, Hamid Mani, the developer of Del Oro, cited Tesla CEO Elon Musk. Musk believes that in the next ten years, more than half of the new vehicles produced in America will be electric.

“We need to be ahead of the game. All of the cars are going to be electric,” said Mani, who held a ribbon cutting for Del Oro last Friday. Chula Vista Mayor Mary Casillas Salas, SDG&E’s senior director of clean transportation Linda Brown, Chula Vista City Councilmember John McCann, and other dignitaries joined in the celebration.

A 2016 Bloomberg report projects that electric vehicles will reach price parity with conventional vehicles sometime between 2022 and 2026 – making them not just an attractive environmental choice, but an economical one as well. Fully electric vehicles produce zero emission, and they can help drivers save in fuel and maintenance costs. Electric motors have only one moving part, while their gasoline counterparts have dozens, therefore, the total cost of ownership for an electric vehicle is often lower.

How can you get chargers?

Del Oro is one of many multi-family sites throughout the county where we are working with property owners, managers, and tenants to get EV chargers installed.

Want to see if your apartment or condo complex is a good fit for Power Your Drive program? Join the interest list by visiting sdge.com/poweryourdrive. Our clean transportation team will reach out to you and work with the appropriate stakeholders to design EV parking spaces that meet the unique needs of your community.