A thread in r/electricvehicles raised an interesting question after a newly elected HOA board member was asked to draft EV regulations for the community.
The new board member, who owned an electric vehicle, explained that everyone in the community had a garage and that the rest of the board was OK with EV chargers being installed in them. However, the other members had the opinion that charging should only happen outdoors.
They were told by the homeowners association president that the insurance company said indoor EV charging was a hazard. However, the new board member questioned this reasoning after their own research found no major risks.
The post drew attention from EV owners and energy advocates, who saw it as part of a larger trend of HOAs clashing with green home upgrades. This prompted commenters to address the question: Should an HOA govern a homeowner's right to install and use an EV charger in their own garage?
The issue highlights a nationwide debate. Homeowner associations have been caught slowing or banning money-saving, eco-friendly updates, from solar panels to native lawns and now EV chargers.
By stalling these improvements, HOAs aren't just costing homeowners more on utility bills; they're also contributing to environmental damage and delaying the transition to cleaner energy.
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Challenging these associations and their often outdated rules is possible, with homeowners having success in pushing their HOAs to approve sustainable home upgrades.
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Reddit commenters reacted with disbelief about the potential ban on indoor EV charging. "I would say deciding where you can charge your car on your own property is something outside the purview of an HOA," one commenter wrote.
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Another one said: "Basically, this is just fear-mongering of new things. I'd ask to talk to the insurance company personally."
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