- The majority of EV charging in the U.S. happens at home, but that’s not necessarily true for condo dwellers.
- To fix the EV charging problem for apartment buildings, ChargePoint wants to install roughly 2,500 charging ports at multifamily residences starting in 2026.
- ChargePoint partnered with OBE Power, which will own and operate the chargers, negating landlord investment.
Living in an apartment complex can be tricky for EV drivers. Even though a whopping 80% of electric car charging sessions happen at home in the United States, apartment dwellers often need to rely on public infrastructure because there aren’t any Level 2 stalls where they live.
To try and fix this issue, ChargePoint has partnered with OBE Power to deploy approximately 2,500 charging ports at multifamily residences in the U.S. starting this year. OBE Power will own and operate the chargers. The company will also cover energy cost reimbursement, carbon credit revenue, ongoing maintenance, insurance, and repairs at no cost for the landlords.
Photo by: InsideEVs
It’s a turnkey solution, which should make life a lot easier for building owners and operators. When EV drivers have issues charging, OBE Power will be the one that handles the complaints. That said, the chargers themselves will be provided by ChargePoint, and charging will not be free.
The two companies already have a partnership to deploy EV chargers at hotels and other hospitality facilities, and are now expanding to multifamily homes. The first dispensers will be installed at condos across the country in the near term, according to ChargePoint and OBE Power.
According to the Department of Energy’s Alternative Fuels Data Center (AFDC), ChargePoint currently operates over 45,000 EV charging stations across the U.S., with a combined 80,215 charging ports. The vast majority of the company’s ports—over 75,000—are Level 2, which deliver a lower output than ultra-fast DC chargers, but are perfectly adequate for places where EVs are parked overnight or for long periods of time during the day, like apartment complexes and shopping malls.
The latest round of installs will increase ChargePoint’s footprint in the Level 2 EV charging space to roughly 78,000 ports, making it the largest operator in the country.