HOURCAR is a nonprofit carshare organization making big transportation changes in the Twin Cities.
In 2022, HOURCAR is expanding its round-trip carshare service through the Multifamily Electric Vehicle Carshare Pilot Project. Leveraging funding from the U.S. Department of Energy and partnerships with Xcel Energy, the American Lung Association, and East Metro Strong, the pilot will add a total of 50 all-electric vehicles, essentially doubling the HOURCAR fleet. To do this, HOURCAR is placing new hubs with electric chargers at multifamily complexes around the Twin Cities metropolitan area, with a focus at affordable housing sites. The project aims to increase electric mobility options for residents at income levels that have been traditionally underserved while also decreasing barriers to building out electric vehicle charging stations at multifamily dwellings.
This is the first project of its kind in the State of Minnesota and one of the first of its size in North America, including 25 total properties with 50 shared electric vehicles.
Do you want to provide electric HOURCAR vehicles and charging at one or several of your multi-dwelling units?
Here’s what you need to know:
We are seeking site hosts (owners, developers, or managers of residential real estate) interested in offering electric vehicle carsharing to residents at one or more of their properties at very low cost.
Each selected site will host:
Sites must be readily available for installation of EVSE and operation of the carsharing service. This means:
*Round-trip carshare means each electric carshare vehicle will be ‘tethered’ to the property. Members pick up the reserved electric HOURCAR from the dedicated carshare space and must return it to at the end of the reservation to the same space.
Selection criteria have been designed to help the project meet its dual goals of:
We will prioritize applicants whose overall site meets the Minnesota Department of Commerce Conservation Improvement Programs (CIP) definition of Qualified Low-Income where at least 66% of residential units are affordable at 60% Area Median Income (AMI) or below.
In addition to building affordability, our selection criteria prioritize sites located proximate to services and existing transit infrastructure in the Twin Cities Metro Area where residents might live with zero or one car. We want the carsharing service to complement the transit network.
We are looking for sites that will complement other services HOURCAR is building out in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul, including the EV Spot Network and Evie Carshare. More information on that project is located here. We are currently prioritizing sites that are close to or within the Evie Carshare Home Area but are not currently served by an HOURCAR hub. Use our mapping tool or see the map below to see whether your building falls in our priority zone.
We are opening applications for our third round of this pilot construction anticipated to begin in Q2 of 2023. Round One solicited applications in the spring of 2021 with sites ending their initial HOURCAR pilot period at the end of 2023. Round Two’s application period closed in December 2022 with sites opening later in 2023.
To participate in the HOURCAR Multifamily Electric Vehicle Carshare pilot, sites will also need to participate in Xcel Energy’s Multi-Dwelling Unit Electric Vehicle Service Pilot. Xcel Energy’s pilot provides funding to cover the installation and purchasing of charging equipment, while HOURCAR’s pilot provides an immediate use case for the charger that can serve to subsidize the initial opening of a charger at the applied sites or can provide a long-term transportation amenity for your residents.
Xcel Energy Multi-Dwelling Unit Electric Vehicle Service Pilot
To participate in the pilot, site hosts must agree to maintain at least one dual-port level 2 charger on site for a period of ten (10) years.
For qualified affordable Multi-Dwelling Units, Xcel Energy will undertake 100% of construction costs to bring power to the site, while sites that don’t meet the program’s definition of affordability will need to pay for 50% of the construction costs. The cost of the Level 2 dual-port charger(s) itself will be amortized and billed monthly over the ten-year period; we anticipate this cost will be roughly $90 per month. Payments for the charger and the cost of electricity for charging will be borne by HOURCAR during the 18-month Multifamily Electric Vehicle Carshare Pilot. The charger will be used to charge HOURCAR electric vehicles for the Multifamily Electric Vehicle Carshare Pilot and will not be available for private charging. Site hosts can request additional dual-port chargers to be installed on site for use by residents who own electric vehicles. Any additional costs for the chargers not dedicated to the carsharing program will be borne by the site host.
HOURCAR Multifamily Electric Vehicle Carshare Pilot
HOURCAR’s Multifamily Electric Vehicle Carshare Pilot lasts for 18 months, with the possibility to extend the term of service by becoming a long-term HOURCAR hub.
During this pilot period, HOURCAR will place two shared electric vehicles on site at the dedicated charging spaces for use by residents and the surrounding community. Operations and maintenance (O&M) costs for the vehicles will be fully underwritten by the US Department of Energy for 18 months. During the initial 18-month period and any subsequent extensions, HOURCAR will pay the amortized cost of the dual-port charger and any electricity costs for charging the two shared electric vehicles. In order to use the carshare service, residents must sign up, meet HOURCAR’s membership requirements, and pay for use of the vehicles. HOURCAR has special rates available for low-income members of the service.
Timeline
HOURCAR’s carshare pilot period lasts roughly 18 months, dependent on Xcel Energy’s construction timelines. Xcel Energy’s pilot will cover 100% of the “make-ready” and installation costs of chargers for qualified affordable housing multifamily buildings and 50% of costs for non-qualified buildings. HOURCAR will cover the monthly costs of the charger and any electricity the charger uses during our pilot period.
At the end of the 18-month HOURCAR pilot, the site host and HOURCAR will mutually decide whether to extend the pilot and continue to provide a carsharing amenity to residents and the surrounding community. HOURCAR will base its decision on whether the site is (or is on track to becoming) financially self-sustaining (the threshold for financial viability is currently estimated to be approximately 10 hours of use per vehicle per day). If the site is not meeting this self-sustaining goal, but the site host is interested in keeping HOURCAR’s service on site, HOURCAR and the site host may negotiate a cost-share agreement where the site host would provide some additional financial support to keep the site at the self-sustaining level.
If the site host and HOURCAR do not reach an agreement to keep the carsharing hub operating after the pilot period, HOURCAR will remove the carshare vehicles at the end of the contract period. The site will become responsible for the monthly payments for the charger, amortized over the remainder of the 10-year Xcel Energy contract for an estimated cost of about $90 a month. The site host may recoup this cost by implementing fees for use of the chargers.
Filling out the pre-approval application is the first step to become a site host for the Multifamily Electric Vehicle Carshare project. Pre-approved site hosts will be invited to participate in a preliminary assessment with Xcel Energy and a resident engagement session with HOURCAR. Final approval will be contingent on the completion of these two additional steps.
This pre-approval application allows each applicant to submit up to five proposed sites for consideration. Proposed sites may consist of a property or a group of properties within walking distance to one another. Properties can be made up of one or multiple buildings. Existing properties and developments under construction will be considered if they are scheduled to be open by June 30, 2024.
After your application is submitted, we will contact you to confirm submission. We will invite selected sites on a rolling basis to begin the Xcel Energy and HOURCAR community engagement process.
Questions? HOURCAR staff will be available to assist you with any questions you may have as you work through the application. Please email [email protected] with any questions.
If you have any questions about pilot requirements, timelines, and/or funding, reach out to [email protected].