Avoiding Unnecessary Electrical Costs When Adding EV Charging

Deploying EV charging on a commercial property—whether it’s a condo building, multifamily garage, retail center, or corporate office—doesn’t have to mean major electrical upgrades or high operating costs. With thoughtful planning, strategic charger selection, and smart power management, you can provide excellent charging access while keeping both installation and ongoing electrical expenses under control.

Below are three practical, proven strategies Chicago EV uses to help property owners save money without sacrificing charging capability:

1) Use Centralized Locations to Cut Install Costs

In many condominium or multifamily properties, there’s often a designated “valet area,” guest parking zone, or a cluster of shared spaces near the building entrance. These areas are ideal for EV chargers because they let you consolidate all conduit runs in a single geographic location.

This matters because conduit, trenching, and distribution work are among the most significant cost drivers in EV charger installation. When chargers are spread out, every run must be wired individually—multiplying material and labor costs.

Placing chargers in a central zone allows you to:

• Minimize total conduit length
• Avoid disruptive or costly trenching
• Reduce installation time and complexity
• Support more chargers without panel upgrades

2) Use Power Sharing to Avoid Panel Upgrades

A big misconception in EV planning is that every charger must pull its full rated amperage at all times. In reality, power sharing (load balancing) lets multiple chargers intelligently distribute available capacity—often eliminating the need for costly electrical upgrades.

Most modern EV chargers, including ChargePoint, support this feature at the charger level. This allows you to:

• Install more chargers with the same electrical capacity
• Deliver reliable charging for drivers
• Avoid service or panel upgrades
• Reduce overall system strain

Power sharing is especially valuable in:

• Multifamily and condo garages
• Workplaces with long-dwell parking
• Commercial sites with limited capacity

3) Right-Size Amperage and Use Off-Peak Charging

In long-dwell environments—multifamily garages, workplaces, and residential buildings – lower-power chargers are often the most cost-effective option.

For example:

• 20A at 240V Level 2 chargers can fully recharge most EVs overnight
• 120V trickle charging may be enough for many daily drivers

Right-sizing amperage helps you:

• Add more charging ports with the same capacity
• Reduce heat load and strain on your system
• Avoid unnecessary upgrades
• Improve energy efficiency

Off-Peak Charging Saves Money

Energy prices can differ significantly between peak and off-peak hours. From a recent ComEd hourly pricing example:

• 5:00 pm: 6.1¢ per kWh
• 4:00 am: 1.3¢ per kWh

Charging at 5 pm can cost 4.69× more than charging overnight.

Most EVs allow scheduled charging, helping drivers shift usage to low-cost hours—reducing property-wide electrical demand and tenant costs

EV charging doesn’t need to be expensive. By using centralized locations, leveraging power sharing, and right-sizing chargers, commercial and multifamily properties can offer reliable charging while keeping installation and operating costs low.

For a customized, cost-efficient EV charging plan, Chicago EV can help evaluate your electrical capacity, parking layout, and long-term needs.