Making Way for Electric Cars

WITH many car manufacturers preparing to hit the streets with fully electric cars in the next few years, some real estate developers are getting ahead of a possible trend by installing car-charging stations in their apartment buildings.

Glenwood Management, which has two dozen rental buildings in the city, will install four charging stations for electric cars in the 400-car parking garage of its newest development: the 569-unit Emerald Green, on 38th Street between Eighth and Ninth Avenues.

The charging stations, sold by Coulomb Technologies of Campbell, Calif., should be able to charge any electric car within about four hours, said Howard Heisner, an executive vice president of Glenwood.

“I know many people interested in electric cars who are only waiting for the right model car and the charging station infrastructure that meets their needs,” Mr. Heisner said. “I just want to make sure Glenwood’s ready.”

After observing how the four charging stations are used at Emerald Green, Glenwood may add more stations there. The company also plans to retrofit with charging stations the parking garages in its 23 existing buildings.

“Everybody — BMW, Mercedes, Chevy, Nissan — up to a dozen manufacturers are rolling out electric models in the next two years,” Mr. Heisner said. “There will be nobody who can’t get into an electric car if they’re interested.”

Emerald Green, which opens its leasing office Sept. 8 and has starting monthly rents of $1,900 for studio apartments, is an environmentally responsible building. It will receive credit for the charging stations under the national certification system called Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, or LEED, Mr. Heisner said.

A few buildings in the city already have electric car-charging stations. Some offer just 120-volt power outlets, like those found in homes; among them is the Helena, a rental tower at 11th Avenue and 57th Street.

“Usually, there are no outlets for cars in parking garages,” said Douglas Durst, the chairman of the Durst Organization, which developed the Helena, “so we’ve just provided those for people who want to charge their cars.” He said he didn’t believe many tenants used the outlets.

Mr. Durst has been leasing a Mini E, an electric car made by BMW that is being field-tested by 500 people in the United States. “I love it,” he said. “It’s a terrific car to drive — the car of the future.”

Charging stations that provide 240 volts, called Level 2 chargers, can take less than half the charging time of 120-volt outlets, or Level 1 chargers. Typically, an 8- to-10-kilowatt battery needs three or four hours at Level 2 to be completely charged.

The Albanese Organization, a developer with headquarters in Garden City, N.Y., has installed a combination 120- and 240-volt charging station called the EV Power Pak in the parking garages of two rental buildings in Battery Park City: the Verdesian at 211 North End Avenue, and at the Solaire at 20 River Terrace.

Albanese also plans to install charging stations at the Visionaire, a condominium tower at 70 Little West Street in Battery Park City, though the developers are first collecting feedback from residents about what type they would prefer. Currently, the Visionaire has both 120- and 240-volt power outlets.

All the electric cars that will roll out over the next few years will be charged by Level 2 chargers, said Scott Saffian, a senior vice president for sales at Coulomb Technologies.

Also, he said that car manufacturers had informally agreed to use a standard SAE J1772 connector, which is a five-prong plug.

But the SAE J1772 connector will not be available until the end of the year. So Coulomb has been selling its Level 1 chargers with a promise to upgrade them at no charge to Level 2 with standard connectors as soon as they become available, Mr. Saffian said.

The charging stations are pricey: The equipment costs roughly $5,000 to $6,000, not including installation.

Also, it remains to be seen if electric cars will appeal to large numbers of consumers. And if they do, it’s anyone’s guess which network of charging stations consumers will prefer — or if an entirely different method of keeping electric cars charged may instead evolve, like switching a used battery for a new one at switching stations.

Currently, the closest functioning Coulomb charging stations to New York City, according to the company’s real-time Web page, are on Long Island, in Oyster Bay and Middle Island. The next closest is in Lexington, Mass.

Coulomb requires drivers who use its charging stations to subscribe to its service, for about $15 to $50 a month, depending on use. It reimburses 80 percent of the cost of each charge to the owner of the real estate where the charging station is located.

“So the owner, or host, gets paid back, and maybe over time, in three and a half to five years, the reimbursements will have paid for the electricity and the capital goods,” Mr. Saffian said.

At the same time, whoever owns the parking garage can also charge drivers a fee to park while charging, he said.

Mr. Heisner said that Emerald Green hasn’t yet worked out its fee structure, but that anyone who rolls up, including nonresidents, will be able to use the charging stations.

This article has been revised to reflect the following correction:

Correction: September 6, 2009
The Posting article last Sunday, about residential buildings that are putting charging stations for electric cars in their parking garages, gave an incorrect address for one building, the Visionaire. It is at 70 Little West Street, not 55 Battery Place.

More Articles in Real Estate » A version of this article appeared in print on August 30, 2009, on page RE2 of the New York edition.