I was having a conversation somewhere, LinkedIn I think, about the challenge of charging if you live in a multi occupancy building. Between us we kind of got to a combination of solutions where chargers could have a digital connection to multiple meters and the entry of a specific code would allow a customer to charge their car and it gets billed to their home supply. This would be ideal for those blocks of flats with a car park near the base of the building or underground. Alternatively, there are already schemes where a supplier can give residents a discount for the chargers outside of their home. Costs would always mean that this wouldn’t be equivalent to charging on a home rate but if it’s significantly closer than current costs, that would also make for a suitable solution. This is in recognition that, of those who have a genuine barrier to running a BEV, the most significant will be residents in blocks of apartments/flats. Following that are those who can not consistently park at or close to home, who would require chargers to be available roadside that wouldn’t block pavements and wouldn’t cost the Earth to run.
It’s an important conversation and one worth looking into but I can see one potential problem straight off. I bet you someone will think to themselves: “why don’t I let other drivers pay me to use my charger, and then offset my supply costs?” and before long you have an array of non residents parking up and charging. Security codes to get to the parking space will be handed over, codes for the charger, neighbours upset, robberies, etc.
Think landlords/letting agencies want to deal with this stuff? They’re making enough money so they’d be reluctant to complicate things.
It’d be great if this worked but reality is that communal areas can have just one person manipulate things and bring the whole thing to a crash. Which is why a set up like this would be unlikely to work.