Adding Value to your Property with EV Charging
There was a time when all parking spaces in a particular location were basically created equal. So long as it was fairly secure, sufficiently flat and sized to fit your car, then you were pretty happy. The emergence of electric vehicles (EVs) will likely add a bunch of value to those spaces that have an electric vehicle charger.
Home charging is a huge convenience win
The defining convenience win of driving an electric car is that it fuels itself while you are getting on with your life. You no longer find yourself detouring regularly to refueling stations when you were trying to drive to your destination, you simply “top-up” once you’re at your destination. And everyone’s number one destination is their home. It is increasingly possible to have an EV without home charging, particularly if you can charge at work, but there’s no doubt it’s easiest if you do. If you charge at home you can also better control the costs, arranging for the optimal tariff means the running costs of an EV can be ~20% of a conventional car. All of this means a home that can have an EV charger is far more valuable to an EV driver than one without.
Does anyone care?
But there’s hardly any EV drivers, right? Yes. A small proportion of (hugely fortunate and pioneering) people currently drive EVs. But how about in 10 years time? In summary the 2020s will see an absolute explosion in EV uptake. By 2030, it will likely be the dominant mode of propulsion for cars. This means that the home with EV charging will become far more valuable to the majority - and thus a property value consideration for all.
See where we’re going? Be it a new build or existing development, if you’re responsible for a property, you will be potentially hamstringing its future value by failing to provide EV charging, or at least the capability to easily install EV charging. If you are buying one today, you will be saying goodbye to a large chunk of its value over the next 5-10 years vs a property that does or can have EV charging.
Show me the money
So the only question remains how much this EV charging premium will be worth? We invite property experts to provide detailed insight here. A rule of thumb is that a parking space is typically worth 5% of your property value today, which is probably a reasonable figure to use for the first approximation. 5% of the average Vancouver BC house price ($928,000) is $46,400k.
Food for thought, isn’t it?
Source: pod-point.com