This week I am very proud to
announce that our office drafted legislation that truly brings
Florida into the 21st century. It is still being
tweaked by others with input, but it seeks to address an issue
that we will need to deal with on a large scale, sooner than
later, and that is electric cars.
Many automobile manufacturers
have already announced that they won’t even be making gasoline
powered vehicles in a few years. There is no question about it,
ultimately we will not be driving gasoline powered vehicles and
we will all be driving electric powered vehicles. So, how will
our community associations adapt to this scientific phenomenon?
For HOAs, it’s easy. Every
homeowner can install their own charging station at their home,
at their own cost. But what do we do with condominiums and the
millions of parking spots that will need to be converted or
adapted to have the ability to charge electric vehicles?
Even though electric cars are
still few and far between at the moment, we certainly shouldn’t
wait to address this issue via legislation. In some associations
the fighting has already begun. Let’s deal with it now, pass
some regulations and over the next few years, and continue to
modify the legislation as we learn more about how associations
are dealing with this issue each year.
I would love to hear
suggestions from each of you. How do we start handling this
now?
Things to think about:
The law wants to encourage the
use of electric vehicles so we get away from gasoline. So how
do we do that?
How do we help those people who want to
purchase an electric vehicle now? Should they be entitled to
install a charging station in their designated parking space?
Suppose the owners do not have a designated parking space and
spots are common element first come / first served? Who should
pay for the charging station? Since it’s inevitable, why not
just do all parking spaces now? What about guest parking
spaces? If only some unit owners pay now, should they be forced
to pay again when the condo finally decides to install charging
stations at all parking spots?
Suppose the condo’s current electrical system
cannot handle the increased number of charging stations and a
major upgrade is required to the entire condominium?
What’s the ultimate cost? At what point
should condos be required to make the upgrade?
These are very serious financial issues that
need answers now. Ultimately, parking your electric vehicle in
your condo’s parking spots will become a reality. We need
legislation and we need our major utility companies from around
the state to step up and give associations guidance in this
regard and perhaps rebates and financial and technical
assistance. Now is the time to start thinking about all of
these issues, not when we are all already driving these
electrical cars………or flying them
