How MW Lofts uses EV charging to attract tenants with ease
From the outset, MW Lofts, a residential property that opened its doors in 2023, knew that it would be important to provide EV charging stations as one of its core amenities. A key requirement: That the charging stations be easy to use and easy to manage, ensuring a painless experience for tenants and management alike.
The property partnered with SWTCH to deliver this experience. The result? An offering that has enhanced tenant satisfaction, contributed to sustainability efforts, and given the building an additional competitive edge.
A Forward-Thinking Approach to EV Charging
While EV ownership was once a small niche, it has become much more mainstream, and a growing number of tenants prefer to live in places that accommodate their charging needs. In order to position itself as a priority destination for great tenants, then, MW Lofts knew it would have to offer great EV charging.
“It’s something that people really expect nowadays,” said Diana Lopez, Community Manager for MW Lofts. To stay ahead of tenant expectations, MW Lofts integrated EV charging infrastructure into their initial plans, ensuring they would be able to meet this need right away.
The building’s setup includes 11 Level 2 charging stations located within the residential garage, all shared between the building’s EV drivers and operating on a first-come, first-served basis. The arrangement has worked well, with EV drivers at the building able to access charging as needed without the need for a dedicated charger.
Finding an elegant solution to an early challenge
It’s normal to have growing pains after introducing a new amenity, and there were some early challenges with MW Lofts’ EV charging offering.
Soon after the stations were installed, MW Lofts received a few complaints from residents about other residents leaving their cars parked in charging spaces for extended periods, taking up valuable spots and limiting access even when their cars no longer needed to charge. “People were driving in, charging their cars, and then just staying there for two days at a time,” Lopez recalled. The prime location of the EV chargers, placed near the elevators and main entrances for convenience, likely contributed to the issue.
Working with the team at SWTCH, MW Lofts addressed this challenge by implementing a loitering fee. From that point on, residents who left their cars plugged in well past the time that their vehicles were fully charged had to pay a fee, incentivizing drivers to quickly move their vehicles once the battery was full.
“Once we implemented the loitering fees, we saw a lot more success, and we haven’t really gotten any complaints,” Lopez said. To make sure the process went even more smoothly, MW Lofts offered a one-time courtesy of waiving the fee for first-time offenders. Since implementation, the policy has been well-received and has successfully reduced the number of complaints.
Creating an effortless charging experience
MW Lofts partnered with SWTCH in large part because of their proven reliability and focus on making the user experience as smooth as possible. In particular, features like notifications to residents when their vehicle is nearing a full charge and sending email alerts as the charge completes. This has been another factor to help ensure that residents move their cars in a timely manner, helping to avert loitering.
As MW Lofts’ EV charging journey has progressed, though, it’s been SWTCH’s attentive customer support that has made one of the biggest impressions. “SWTCH’s customer service team has been really helpful. It’s been pretty seamless,” Lopez said. She noted that SWTCH’s direct communication with residents has significantly reduced the number of inquiries she receives from residents. “It seems that it’s pretty easy for the residents to be able to reach out to SWTCH directly and then have it come through to us when and where needed. It makes it easier for me to do my job because I don’t have to intervene,” she added.
SWTCH has also provided MW Lofts with educational materials, such as pamphlets, to help residents understand how to use the EV chargers. These resources were included in the move-in packets, ensuring that even residents who didn’t initially have EVs knew how to utilize the service if needed.
Great EV charging = a big help in attracting and keeping tenants
While the team at MW Lofts is not tracking the number of EV drivers moving into the building, Lopez emphasized that they are well aware of how important charging infrastructure is to their ongoing success. “If the property across the street has EV charging and our property doesn’t, it would be a loss for us,” she explained. “People with an EV—and that’s more people than ever—will choose the building with chargers.”
To showcase the chargers, MW Lofts features them in handouts to potential residents, on its website, as well as in promotions on external platforms like Apartments.com and Zillow. And as occupancy has grown from 30% in late 2023 to about 92% late in 2024, usage of the charging stations has increased as well.
Even with this increase, the smooth turnover process continues, ensuring residents can always count on being able to charge their vehicles throughout the day. “If someone sees that it’s open, they’re like, okay, let me plug in and get my charge in right now,” Lopez said. “They’re done charging, they move their car to the other space, and then the next person sees, ‘Hey, it’s open, let me go in and charge.’ It’s all working really well.”
Reliable charging, zero hassle required
As MW Lofts looks ahead to the future, it is committed to ensuring its charging offering evolves alongside the needs of its residents. It is also grateful for the SWTCH team’s support in ensuring this new amenity takes a minimum of time to manage, even as it grows in popularity.
“The communication with SWTCH has been really quick and easy,” Lopez said. “If I reach out with a question, I get a response in a day or two, and that makes it easier to do my job. I have a million things going on a million percent of the day, so that’s been great.”
Down the line, when expansion becomes necessary, MW Lofts will have a strong foundation on which to build and an advantage against its competitors in attracting the growing cohort of EV drivers eager for a home that offers onsite charging.
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