Electric Vehicle “Right to Charge” Backgrounder

Electric Vehicle “Right to Charge” Backgrounder

Overview

British Columbia is leading the way with electric vehicle (EV) adoption and under the provincial CleanBC plan, the sale of fossil-fueled light duty vehicles is set to be phased out such that all new vehicles sales will be zero emission by 2040.

For many, the deciding factor for buying an EV is whether they will be able to charge on a daily basis. Given that personal vehicles are typically parked at the place of residence for the longest portion of the day, access to charging at home is critical for widespread adoption, making EVs both convenient and affordable.

Access to charging in multi-unit residential buildings (MURBs) like stratas and apartments can be very difficult due to the nature and processes of strata governance and the use of common property and, in the case of apartments, landlord restrictions on EV charger installations. As many as 60% of larger municipality households in British Columbians live in MURBs, where a significant number of residents find it difficult to get access to EV charging infrastructure. This lack of access works directly against the province’s 2040 sales target of 100% zero-emission vehicles.

The Importance of home charging

Given that over 70% of EV charging occurs at home¹, having access to charging at home is critical to EV adoption and countless studies (e.g. Electrifying Vehicles: SFU’s Canadian PEV Study and A Review of Consumer Preferences of and Interactions with Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure) have demonstrated the linkage between access to home charging and EV sales.

The Province’s light duty vehicle zero emission sales targets of 10/30/100% by 2025/2030/2040 respectively, will not be met without addressing the issue of right of access to EV charging in multi-unit residential buildings

Having some EV infrastructure in place does not guarantee access to charging

Although many progressive B.C. local governments are adopting EV-ready zoning bylaws for new construction (Table 1), the vast majority of the MURBs in BC require either complete retrofitting or various degrees of retrofitting² for EV infrastructure. In the cases of retrofitting, residents are frequently denied the installation of EV infrastructure by the Strata or landlords. Currently, a supermajority vote of Strata owners is required even if the EV owners are prepared to fully-finance the acquisition, installation, and operation of the EV charging infrastructure. In the case of apartments, landlords are under no obligation to accommodate any requests for access to EV charging even if the tenant is prepared to pay 100% of the cost.

The challenges of deploying electric vehicle charging in multi-unit residential buildings (MURBs)

Approval from strata council and owners

• Under current rules for common property in stratas, a ¾ strata majority is needed to pass a bylaw to allow the installation and use of EV infrastructure. Strata Councils and owners can, and with few exceptions, vote without cause, against strata resolutions for EV charging infrastructure and access.
• Strata owners prefer not to call Special General Meetings (SGMs) to vote to install EV infrastructure, and the inconvenience could bias owners into voting against such a motion. As a result, the few resolutions that get to this stage are generally limited to Annual General Meetings (AGMs). This leads to long delays (years) for EV charging infrastructure project decisions.
• Currently, it is the strata council and its owners who ultimately determine if a strata owner can install a charging station, even if the EV owner(s) are willing to pay 100% of the cost.
• Through the “tragedy of the commons” it can be difficult to gain the necessary votes to install infrastructure, when other strata owners do not own, or lack interest in, or do not understand, electric vehicles.

Approval from Landlords

• There are currently no requirements In the BC Residential Tenancy Act or Regulations that either; prohibit landlords from including prohibitions of EV charging in standard leasing agreements, or require access if the lessee is prepared to pay the installation cost for the EV charging equipment.
• Although EV charging demand and associated market forces may eventually incentivize more landlords to provide EV infrastructure access, there is an immediate need to ensure that tenants who wish to purchase an electric vehicle can, at their option, and under reasonable conditions, gain access to EV charging infrastructure. Particularly if that all that is required is access to existing low-cost charging outlets³
• The California tenancy model⁴ provides an example of the terms and conditions under which EV charging access can be structured to include the interests of both the landlord and the lessee.

Experience from provincial incentive programs

• In the province's 2017 MURB incentive program, even with a rebate of 75% of costs (up to $4,000) for the installation of EV chargers, the top reason for applicants to withdraw from the program was their inability to secure the necessary strata votes to proceed with projects.⁵
• The 2018 Charging Solutions and Incentives program application was updated to require project approval from the authorized body (e.g. strata or building owner) in advance of applying, to reduce the number of expected withdrawals. A number of would-be applicants had to withdraw from the program because they were unable to secure the necessary strata votes to proceed with their projects.⁶
• In both programs, Plugin BC, the program’s administrator, collected data on applicants who were initially approved for funding but withdrew their application. The reasons cited for withdrawn applications include (see Appendix A for testimonials from BC EV owners):
  • Nearer-term financial priorities (e.g. building repairs).
  • An unwillingness to subsidize, or be perceived to be subsidizing, a project that benefits one, or just a few, strata members.
  • Lack of clarity on who pays, and how costs are recovered.
  • Tendency to be risk adverse; uncertainty or lack of understanding makes it easiest to say “no”.
  • Strata council not seeing EV charging as a priority, and postponing or not bringing the resolution to a vote at the AGM.
  • The disposition of individual strata residents.
• In cases where applicants were successful, applicants clearly laid out how they would cover expenses and responsibility for the infrastructure installation. This may suggest that stratas may be agreeable to the installation of EV infrastructure, as long as all the costs are borne by the EV owner(s) and/or the terms and conditions are properly defined. Properly drafted right-to-charge could achieve this condition.⁷

The Solution: Right-to-charge legislation