ChargePoint and OBE Power Partner to Accelerate EV Charging Access at Multifamily Residences Across North America
The transition to electric vehicles (EVs) across North America continues to gain momentum, but one major challenge still threatens to slow broader adoption—access to reliable home charging for residents living in multifamily housing communities. While homeowners in single-family residences can often install charging stations with relative ease, apartment dwellers and condominium residents frequently encounter limited charging availability, infrastructure constraints, and property management hurdles.
Addressing this long-standing issue, ChargePoint, a global provider of EV charging solutions, has announced a strategic partnership with OBE Power, a charge point owner specializing in large-scale EV charging deployment and operations. The collaboration aims to significantly expand charging access in multifamily housing properties across North America through the planned rollout of approximately 2,500 EV charging ports beginning in 2026.
The agreement marks a significant expansion of the companies’ existing relationship and reflects increasing industry efforts to address charging accessibility in one of the fastest-growing segments of the EV market.
Solving One of EV Adoption’s Biggest Challenges
Although electric vehicle ownership continues to rise across the United States and Canada, charging accessibility remains unevenly distributed. Home charging plays a central role in EV ownership, with most drivers preferring the convenience of charging overnight where they live. However, that convenience is not equally available to everyone.
According to data from the U.S. Department of Energy, approximately 80% of EV charging occurs at home. Yet multifamily housing developments—including apartment complexes, condominiums, and rental communities—have lagged considerably behind single-family homes when it comes to charging infrastructure.
For residents living in shared buildings, installing EV chargers is often far more complicated. Property ownership structures, electrical capacity concerns, upfront installation costs, and ongoing maintenance responsibilities frequently create barriers for landlords and developers.
The partnership between ChargePoint and OBE Power seeks to bridge this infrastructure gap by offering a scalable, turnkey charging solution specifically designed for multifamily communities.
Rather than placing financial or operational burdens on landlords, the companies intend to simplify EV charging deployment through an integrated model that combines advanced charging technology with full-service ownership and operations.
Under the agreement, ChargePoint will become OBE Power’s exclusive EV charging technology provider. This includes the supply of charging hardware, software platforms, and associated services needed to operate large-scale charging networks in residential settings.
By pairing ChargePoint’s technology ecosystem with OBE Power’s ownership model, the companies believe they can remove many of the barriers that have historically slowed charger installations at apartment properties.
Expanding an Existing Relationship
The newly announced initiative builds upon a collaboration that already spans more than a decade between ChargePoint and OBE Power.
Previously, the companies worked together to deploy EV charging solutions in hospitality and hotel environments, helping support charging access where people travel and stay. Now, the partnership is expanding into another high-priority charging category—residential living.
Executives from both organizations emphasized that multifamily housing represents one of the industry’s largest untapped opportunities.
Rick Wilmer, Chief Executive Officer of ChargePoint, described the expansion as a natural next step in the companies’ long-term collaboration.
According to Wilmer, multifamily housing has historically lacked a simple and scalable pathway for EV charging deployment, despite increasing consumer demand for residential charging access.
He explained that the partnership enables drivers to conveniently charge where they live while also offering landlords a turnkey solution that reduces complexity. By combining ChargePoint’s charging technology with OBE Power’s owned-and-operated infrastructure approach, property owners can offer EV charging amenities without assuming operational burdens.
The strategy reflects a broader industry trend in which charging providers increasingly focus on convenience and accessibility rather than simply expanding charger counts.
As EV adoption accelerates, experts widely view residential charging access as one of the most important factors influencing consumer purchasing decisions.
A Turnkey Model for Property Owners
A key differentiator of the ChargePoint–OBE Power partnership lies in OBE Power’s owned-and-operated business model.
Instead of requiring landlords or multifamily developers to purchase and manage charging infrastructure themselves, OBE Power will oversee deployments from start to finish.
This includes installation, network operations, maintenance, customer support, and long-term charger management.
Under the partnership, OBE Power plans to deploy turnkey EV charging systems at multifamily communities while managing the infrastructure end-to-end. Importantly, the company will also handle driver support services, ensuring EV users have assistance when needed.
For landlords and property managers, this model reduces administrative complexity and financial risk.
OBE Power will reportedly assume responsibility for multiple cost-intensive operational elements, including:
- Energy cost reimbursement
- Carbon credit revenue management
- Infrastructure maintenance
- Insurance coverage
- Equipment repairs
- Ongoing charging operations
One of the most notable aspects of the arrangement is that these services will be delivered at no cost to landlords.
This approach could significantly improve adoption among property owners who may otherwise hesitate to invest in charging infrastructure because of capital expenses or uncertainty regarding long-term maintenance obligations.
For multifamily property managers seeking to remain competitive in increasingly EV-friendly housing markets, the availability of turnkey charging amenities may also become an important tenant attraction and retention tool.
Why Multifamily Charging Matters More Than Ever
The importance of residential charging infrastructure is becoming increasingly clear as EV adoption broadens beyond early adopters and luxury vehicle owners.
Many new EV buyers now come from urban and suburban communities where apartment living is common. Without convenient overnight charging access, these consumers may delay EV purchases or rely heavily on public charging networks.
Industry analysts frequently describe home charging as one of the strongest predictors of EV ownership satisfaction. Charging at home is generally more convenient, less expensive, and easier to integrate into daily routines than depending solely on public charging stations.
Yet for millions of North Americans living in apartment buildings, overnight charging remains difficult or unavailable.
This challenge creates what many in the automotive and energy industries call the “multifamily charging gap.”
By deploying thousands of charging ports in apartment and condominium communities, ChargePoint and OBE Power aim to help close that gap while supporting broader transportation electrification goals.
The move could also help local governments and utilities meet climate-related objectives by making EV ownership more practical for urban populations.
In many jurisdictions, policymakers are increasingly encouraging or even requiring EV-ready infrastructure in new residential developments.
As regulatory pressure grows and consumer demand rises, multifamily charging is expected to become one of the fastest-growing categories in the charging ecosystem.
ChargePoint’s Role in the EV Ecosystem
ChargePoint has long maintained a prominent position in the EV charging market, offering charging hardware, software, and cloud-based management systems across commercial, residential, fleet, and public charging applications.
The company’s solutions are widely used across workplaces, retail centers, parking facilities, hospitality locations, and transportation networks.
Its software platform allows operators to manage charger availability, monitor performance, process payments, and provide real-time support to users.
By serving as OBE Power’s exclusive technology provider, ChargePoint will supply the technological backbone needed to support thousands of charging ports planned under the partnership.
The company’s experience operating charging infrastructure at scale could prove especially important as multifamily charging networks expand and user expectations continue to rise.
Reliability, uptime, and ease of use remain key considerations for EV drivers, particularly in residential environments where dependable overnight charging becomes part of everyday life.
OBE Power’s Infrastructure Strategy
OBE Power brings a different but complementary expertise to the partnership.
The company focuses on owning and operating EV charging infrastructure at scale, allowing customers—including property owners—to avoid the capital expenditures and operational demands associated with charger deployment.
Its model aligns with broader trends in infrastructure-as-a-service, where businesses increasingly outsource specialized operational responsibilities to expert providers.
Alejandro Burgana, Cofounder and Managing Director of OBE Power, emphasized that the company’s long-standing relationship with ChargePoint has consistently focused on delivering reliability and strong performance for EV drivers.
He noted that after more than a decade of collaboration, the two organizations have built a proven foundation for expanding EV charging where people live, work, and stay.
According to Burgana, combining ChargePoint’s technology platform with OBE Power’s owned-and-operated infrastructure model creates a solution specifically designed for multifamily housing communities.
That specialization could become increasingly valuable as apartment developers seek efficient pathways toward electrification without increasing operational complexity.
About ChargePoint Holdings, Inc.
ChargePoint has established itself as the leader in electric vehicle (EV) charging innovation since its inception in 2007, long before EVs became widely available. The company provides comprehensive solutions tailored to the entire EV ecosystem, from the grid to the dashboard of the vehicle. The company serves EV drivers, charging station owners, vehicle manufacturers, and similar types of stakeholders. With a commitment to accessibility and reliability, ChargePoint’s extensive portfolio of software, hardware, and services ensures a seamless charging experience for drivers across North America and Europe. ChargePoint empowers every driver in need of charging access, connecting them to over 1.37 million public and private charging ports worldwide. ChargePoint has facilitated the powering of more than 21 billion electric miles, underscoring its dedication to reducing greenhouse gas emissions and electrifying the future of transportation. For further information, please visit the ChargePoint pressroom or the ChargePoint Investor Relations site. For media inquiries, contact the ChargePoint press office.
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