New Apartments and Electric Vehicle Chargers.. Any new visions?

[Chris Blackburn]

We are stubbing in the power for our 3 story walk-up apartments.  As I try to future-proof our projects at the same time trying to limit the huge increase in cost for building, we want to make the best decisions on a long-term basis.   We know electric cars are coming- But how? I think autonomous vehicles will be the future for most, not everyone has a car.  (If you look at the savings of not owning a car- the VAAS/CAAS model vehicle as a service or car as a service) maybe the largest wealth generator in the next 10 years (not counting the government printed $ over the covid period) (please do not get me started) Sorry, I digress, the future is coming and if it is convenient, we will embrace.  I call it, Amazon Drive (Jeff you owe me a lifetime platinum membership)  For $100 a month, an Amazon car will appear at your door within 9 minutes or less. The type of car and service goes up from there.  (This is still in beta and Jeff has not returned my emails about my share of the profits- IE I am only guessing a variant exists of this or is coming soon.)  So If I put too much infrastructure in for this or the units themselves... Is it worth it?   Our analysis (armchair) says that having some percentage of access to chargers will be a HUGE advantage to the older (slower to adopt) tenants.   Maybe 10%-25% of the spaces will want them.  We do want this type of customer and they are almost eliminated from being able to live at 99% of all apartment complexes.  99%!!!! son of a gun, that a lot of people with cars nicer and newer than my pickup truck (11 years old but runs great) who cannot rent at my location.  Plus we are in Oregon, the land of the Prius home of the Green.   (Please don't get me started).  Maybe @Jay Hinrichs fancy Tesla charging problems could be solved if he moved into one of the 400 doors we are building in the next 4 years?  (Great project for you in Stayton Oregon, on the water). (Just teasing Jay- I ways want to link you in since you commented about this topic 2 years ago and I respect your opinion even if you drive one of those fancy electric cards and not a pickup truck;)  )     So-- Enough promotion and internal therapy,    My takeaway... A portion of longer-term tenants will want to stay for a long time (years and have access to chargers, a larger portion will be using autonomous vehicle service where they get charged in a centralized location (another business model- lots of power- mine bitcoin at when not charging).   Given that information and all the confusing comments, are there any developers who have put this on a 10-year view, made changes, or have the cat's meow of chargers that everyone likes and is not a management headache?  Some suggest a fixed fee to charge?  One of our projects will have garages so this may be the best spot?  Our projects are 3 story walk-ups on flat ground.  I can feel there is a right answer but need a little help getting it right.  No   No fancy 5/2 for me.   I am thinking put the appropriate conduit in and maybe just amortize the cost of a specific charger to the tenant with an electricity use fee (hate that much reporting)?  If they leave early- the charger stays?  We have a few options.. Chargepoint https://www.chargenw.com or https://evercharge.net or the Juicebox.  If this is a revenue generator it is more exciting to have to manage.  Maybe this is the modern version of having a pool and the progressive developer/owner just needs to add it into the suite of services to stay competitive.  Please share your perspective?  As a low-risk, middle housing (Garden-style apartments) developer, the balance of amenities vs price vs rent is a balancing act.  Do I build elevators to appeal to our older population? (expensive in a number of ways), or do we go for pure economy and stack them cheap and deep since there seems to be no end in sight of costs or demand.  We are currently building 42 units in Salem (Drive by if you want) 4444 State St.  We have another wonderful 114 unit project in Keizer in the works.  We have another 250-350 unit project (26 acres) with an $80M Kroc activity center, lakes, and a nature preserve that we would love to ink a deal on. Let me know if this is your type of project... https://earth.google.com/earth...   Hit the "Present" Button in the lower left corner(yes- I did that myself and if you clicked here and really read this far- I am impressed!)   Our footprint is in the Willamette Valley (Salem) and I hope to continue to improve the area.  Feel free to connect with me if you have any ideas and suggestions.  I am only as good as my team (Which I have a GREAT ONE) and always look for more ways to add value.  We are working on our first panelized apartment complex in Keizer as well (2x 18 plex units off of Cherry Ave in Keizer)  Connect with me and I will add you to the exciting updates and photos.  We are working with www.Treenada.us, (I am a part-owner and also their first apartment build- let me know if you want more information.  We are sharing the plan since the whole idea is to build the same apartments from the same panels over and over.  We use an EXP so almost no wood.                                                                For reference https://tinyurl.com/49m8vxbm Forbes autonomous vehicles are coming   https://tinyurl.com/wcwuh7fe  Wired (2014)  how vehicles will serve you...    https://tinyurl.com/nyrn5fbw  (5 minutes ago- 
Argo AI can now offer the public rides in CA)    www.treenada.us (Company we are partners with on the modular steel apartment projects) (homes, yes- Self Storage- Coming soon) ADU's (coming soon) All in the Amazing town of Salem Oregon!