When a large apartment complex goes big on EV adoption, providing a dedicated charging point at every parking slot, the move will have far-reaching benefits. For one, it would give impetus to the Tamil Nadu government’s October 2025 mandate requiring charging point for every individual car and two-wheeler parking space in residential buildings.
Here are two builders who saw the need for personalised charging points even before the State Government came up with this mandate.
In 2022-23, Radiance Group announced launch of the 234-unit Radiance Majestic in Valasaravakkam with one feature embossed: a one-to-one charger to parking ratio. Eight months ago when residents started occupying the flats, they were happy the builder had made good the promise.
The apartment complex has 10-15 EV owners who make the most of the single phase EV charging point that delivers 7.4 kW of power when connected to their individual meter. This infrastructure is likely to get more residents to switch to an EV.
The builder is modest to admit they still have some ground to cover.
“We were inspired by projects in Pune and Mumbai to adopt the same in Chennai, but we are still learning as those owning a high end car want a fast charger but we have only provided a neutral charger. As this technology is still evolving, there is a lot that we need to analyse and factor in as more owners bring home an EV,” says Gnana Murugan of Radiance Group.
With individual EV plug point at every parking spot, Lancor Infinys, a 290-flat gated community in Keelakattalai has a story of how the teething trouble was overcome. The irritants, which included lack of output from the charging point, app not getting connected and iPhone not getting synced, were addressed over a period of time. “With technology do expect some issues but it is extremely easy and convenient to charge at your convenience from your own space,” says Vinoth Kumar, who owns an electric two-wheeler.
He shifted from a large apartment complex in Pallikaranai to Keelakattalai a year ago to avail this facility. “My previous apartment did not have even a common charging point, so I used to go to public charging stations or borrow from other EV owners who had connected it from their power box,” says Vinoth.
Those working in the EV charging network say it is way easier for an upcoming project to provide owners with the basic infrastructure at their parking lot by focusing on proper earthing and electric load capacity than initiating the work in existing apartments.
Nethaji M, senior manager, charging infrastructure at Bolt.Earth, an EV charging network, says all that we ask developers is provide the cabling work by connecting every parking lot with the resident’s individual meter. The charging kit varies from vehicle to vehicle and is provided when the person buys the EV which can be fitted to the plug point.
“3.3 kW is the basic requirement that we recommend for an individual parking lot, but as the number of EV users increases in a community the extra load must also be planned by coordinating with the Tamil Nadu Electricity Board ,” says Nethaji.
CREDAI’s stand
Confederation of Real Estate Developers Association of India – Chennai had represented to the Additional Chief Secretary, Housing and Urban Development Department, Government of Tamil Nadu that one-to-one charger-to-parking ratio may be “technically unnecessary, financially burdensome, and operationally impractical, especially in large residential developments.”
Currently, 7 kW AC home charger has been used as the basis for EVs priced below ₹20 lakh. With the market fast moving towards 11 kW AC chargers, transitioning from 7 kW to 11 kW would reduce charging times by nearly 35%, sharply improving utilisation efficiency. If 11 kW becomes the norm, the current requirement of having a dedicated charger for every parking slot would result in an overcapacity, nearly 18 times higher, rendering the infrastructure severely underutilised, says CREDIA in their representation. Developers feel rapid technological advancements will outdate today’s chargers. EV charging cables, often 30–40 mm in diameter, pose major challenges when routing hundreds of lines across basements and high-rise structures. The cumulative cable volume, ducting requirements, and heat considerations make one-to-one provisioning technically unviable.
A green upgrade, slow and steady
Most older gated communities are not keen on a one-to-one charger to parking ratio for a variety of reasons and are taking baby steps towards increasing the common EV infrastructure.
Brentwood, one of the 13 towers at House of Hiranandani in Egattur, was the first to invest in an EV charging station that was opened to residents from other towers as well. Now, they have another tower, Amalfi, that has also opened a charging station just for cars.
The common charging point at DLF Gardencity Cluster 1
Likewise, DLF Gardencity Cluster 1 in Semmancherry invested in four basic charging devices to meet the needs of both two-and-four wheelers. The infrastructure was installed at a place easily accessible to residents from the nine towers at DLF Gardencity Cluster 1. This year, the Association upgraded the amenity with four charging points for two-wheelers and four others for four-wheelers.
Karthik T.S., a committee member, says their EV journey has been “steady and fruitful”. Towards finding out what best suits the needs of the community, they took up a study that included finding out how many vehicles were coming to the community, how quickly the vehicles were getting charged, the EV capacity, the charger that should be used, how many charging stations are there around the campus and the power requirements.
“We have plans to expand the common charging points to every three towers, and as we have done some homework so it should be easy,” says Karthik, adding that they have a separate meter for EV reading and they also consulted other societies with charging infrastructure to arrive at the best possible solution.
Published – July 25, 2026 12:24 pm IST
