If you’ve read any of my previous blogs, you know that I telecommute. My husband does too, so gas prices don’t really impact our monthly budget much. And, in the past, gas efficiency has not determined our car choices.
However, I am increasingly focused on green living (which I don’t think is very easy, by the way), and I’ve been reading a lot about electric vehicles, or EVs, as they are widely known. When I mentioned EVs to my husband, he wanted to know how accessible and easy it would be to charge EVs away from home. Right now, the answer is: not very.
In 2009, the Department of Energy awarded $2.4 billion in stimulus money to various entities to build electric vehicles and develop a charging station infrastructure. In fact, the cumulative investment in national and regional charging station infrastructure is projected to reach between $5 billion and $10 billion by 2015, according to information from the Electric Drive Transportation Association.
Forty million plug-in EVs are expected to be on the road by 2030, and an estimated 20 electric vehicles (EVs) models, including the Nissan Leaf and the Chevrolet Volt, are expected to hit the marketplace and roadways by 2012, according to Electric Drive Transportation Association.
Even with all this investment, the charging options are limited. Fortunately, commercial property owners are thinking about ways to make EV usage easier. But are they doing enough?
Jones Lang LaSalle, for example, has an EV Task Force, and to help building managers navigate the emerging EV charging station arena, the firm has developed an educational program that offers managers guidance on everything from purchasing charging stations to installing and maintaining the technology.
Named the EZ EV™ program, it aims to address common concerns about charging stations, such as demand, price, logistics and return on investment. The program stemmed from an EV task force Jones Lang LaSalle formed in 2010 after receiving a plethora of questions from clients about the potential need for charging stations at their properties.
Phoenix-based Alliance Communities is actively implementing an EV charging station program. The multifamily owner is one of the first in its sector to recognize the demand--it has installed the first EV charging station at an apartment community in Austin, Texas. Located at the 280-unit Broadstone Grand Avenue, the ChargePoint
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