Name: Keys to Financial Rewards: Advantages of EV Charging at Multi-Unit Dwellings
Uploaded: 2024-09-24T18:55:05.306Z
Duration: 1 h 29 min 56 s
Description: Keys to Financial Rewards: Advantages of EV Charging at Multi-Unit Dwellings

Transcript for "Keys to Financial Rewards: Advantages of EV Charging at Multi-Unit Dwellings": Hello, everybody, and welcome. It's great to have you here in this exciting discussion about the value of EV charging at multi unit dwellings. I just want to let everybody know that this discussion today is being recorded and access to the replay through the magic link that you received at registration will allow you to access the content after the presentation today and at any point when you want to come back and review the information. I also want to point out today that there is a question and answer feature on the top of your screen, so feel free to put in questions to our folks that are on the call today. Put those questions in there, and we will get to them towards the end of the conversation. So please just make sure you put those questions in there. We will get to them towards the end. So, again, I wanna thank everybody for coming. I'm Kate Crook. I am the partner and engagement director for LinkWell and also a long time EV driver. I'm thrilled to be joined today by 2 amazing experts. Kelly Grover is the chief marketing officer at LinkWell, and Kara Rafferty is an expert in multiunit dwellings. Together, we're gonna dive into how it just makes sense to bring EV charging to your property and ways to make it easy and affordable. So I'm gonna kick it off. Kelly, let's start with you, and if you could tell everybody on the call today a little bit about yourself and and, about link well and what you have to offer. Yeah. Sounds great. Thanks so much much, Kate. Pleasure to be here and excited for the conversation. So chief marketing officer here at LinkWell. Came to LinkWell just over a year ago, and prior to that, I'd have held various go to market roles at several b to b tech companies during my career. So one of the main reasons why I actually chose to come to LinkWell relates to our conversation today, and it really was the company's clean space, but the larger clean energy space. The clean energy revolution is something that's very near and dear to my my how infrastructure plays such an important role in that larger puzzle and really allowing all people to participate. Means to today's conversation, the ability to charge at someone's home is really a must have when it comes to people either currently driving an electric vehicle or considering making in the e the ether next vehicle purchase. And and when a unit dwellings like apartments, condos, everything that folks on this call hopefully are very, very familiar with, they need a solution that is easy. Right? That not only is easy for them to implement and manage as what I would call a site host, but also provides a great experience for their tenants. And that's that critical infrastructure that we need that has so many benefits benefits within and beyond multi unit dwellings, but also provides a genuine value to tenants, but also a really compelling business advantages, again, for property owners and managers. From a timing perspective, it has never been more favorable to consider doing this, and we're gonna speak to that today. So really looking for those in this space looking to add e charging. So to help that we are very lucky to have joining us today to provide owner effective over to Kara so she Hi. Thank you so much for having me today. I have had the privilege of working alongside multifamily owners, operators, staff, and suppliers for about 10 years now. And over the last 4 to 5, sitting as president of the board, volunteering as president of the board across Upstate New York, we have 55,000 units we represent and a direct line to the National Apartment Association. So the Apartment Professional Trade Society of New York or Apartments of New York, as I will call it today, a direct affiliate to NAA. And we spend a lot of our time providing membership benefits and needs and advocacy to our members. But that truly means that we are exploring their everyday challenges and what prevents them from meeting their goals. So, essentially, I'm here to share with you their point of view and what we have collectively learned with LinkWell in helping you get closer to your goals. Thank you. Cara, thank you so much for for being here and sharing your time with us, and again it's a great point, that you were bringing up. You know, you want to make sure that you're having the folks within your community and the multifamily unit meet those financial goals and I was hoping that maybe you could talk a little bit more about the financial benefits for property owners to include EV charging at their locations. Yeah. So I think it really goes back to a view a few things. So we hear time and time again that there are major challenges going on that are not unique to multifamily operators, but we certainly have to take some moments to recognize the impact they have in this industry specifically. So first and foremost, staffing. Staffing has been an issue for quite some time, and, there are some solutions out there. But when we think about the amount of time that people have on-site to explore new opportunities like EV charging or even just to run their day to day staff within the four walls of their leasing offices and maintenance offices, that's a big issue. But what is really driving that in many other things is the financial component. So if these owners and operators are not able to raise their rents, which has become harder, for a variety of reasons that we're not gonna focus on today. But just to share, there is financial restrictions to invest in their people. They are always looking for new ways to have ancillary income. How can they have income? And when I say ancillary income, I just wanna throw it out there for anyone that's kind of learning these catch phrases. Right? You have your rent income, that you're bringing in on each of the units, and then, of course, any kind of fees that you bring in from, I don't know, parking, pet, etcetera, and then ancillary income. So it's essentially not your rent and not your fees, but everything else. So EV charging is a very attractive way to bring in additional income, and this additional income can then trickle down into the property and either be reinvested into the property, into the people, or even just, helping to meet your numbers if you are a third party management. So, you know, what is kind of going on, Kate and Kelly? These owners and operators are seeking out new ways to generate that income to invest into their properties or to show to their investors. And it's not just about this. I'll kinda say this and we can move on. It's also about not turning over these residents. So, construction has slowed down. I think it's about to pick back up, but having people stay there allows them to keep money. So they would spend between 48,000. It really does vary that much. 4 to $8,000 just to turn 1 unit. And that's obviously because we're not sure how long that's gonna be on the market. But if, the owners and operators can put things in place like EV charging, it can be a win win. I mentioned the challenge of creating additional income. It can create additional income. I mentioned the challenge of attracting and retaining residents. It can check that box. As we'll talk about later, every marketer needs to make sure they're checking every box possible to make their home, yes, their home for the renters more attractive. So, the money could be invested elsewhere, and I think we're gonna talk a little bit about how later, how it doesn't need to come out of their pocket directly. I mean, that's a great explanation, Kara, and thank you for bringing that out there. You know, we don't we always talk about, you know, bringing people in as a major component and Kelly mentioned that I know we had a little little audio issue and thanks for some of our members for mentioning that I hopefully we got that corrected. But one thing that Kelly said is you know it's EV charging at a location like this is a good way to bring people into these apartments but it's also a good way to keep them there. When you mention that statistic of how much it costs to roll over an apartment, that's a lot of money that people could be leaving. So I thank you for bringing that up. And as Kelly had mentioned too in maybe folks didn't hear it but I want to restate that in the most recent Plug in America EV driver survey it shows that 90% of EV drivers prefer prefer to charge their vehicle at home, and as you said so eloquently, Kara, this is home so 90% of EV drivers prefer to charge their vehicle at home and in that that same report access to home charging was cited as a top concern for EV drivers so it seems like there's a a space waiting for us. Again, overall, in 2023 was part of a year of continued growth in the EV market. It set global records. So folks are purchasing more of these EVs, and they want them to be able to charge them at home. Did you know it was 1 point I think I gotta look it up. 1,400,000 plug in electric vehicles were sold in 2023. That's a lot of EV drivers who are looking to plug in at home. And for nearly 1 third of US households that reside in a multifamily home, providing access to EV charging is a real opportunity. Like I said, to people who are in your community, Kara, who are part of Apartment Owners of New York, who are part of NAA, this is this is their community, and there seems like a really good opportunity. With that, kind of falls into exactly what you were talking about, keeping up with the Joneses. Do you wanna talk about a little bit more about those those facts about keeping up with the Joneses and multifamily? This is just one one asset. Oh, boy. Sure do. I sure do. So there's a couple way to keep up with the Joneses. Right? So if you happen to be a developer or you're starting from the ground up and you aren't considering EV, this is your wake up call. You know, plan it now. Every new a property, grade a property, every bell and whistle the renters want. Right? And you do wanna top notch to fill up. And, also, you don't wanna have concessions. You don't wanna open up your building with half the property getting months free. So, that's really one way to keep up with the Joneses. But then one that I think is more, important to address today, Kate, and that's properties that are aging. Kate, did you know that most of the properties built across America were built, after 1980. I would say 1980 to 2000. So these properties are anywhere from 20 to 40 years old. And, honestly, in the climate we're in, that's typically the properties that our friends and family can afford right now. And that is probably the number one place where owners are buying, out historical second, third generation apartment owners, and they're doing upgrades. Right? So a lot of you would know that as a value add property. And those properties right now, I think, are the hottest ones that our members are feeling well, they're feeling the most struggle, but where they have the biggest opportunity to add small enhancements like EV charging that can really, dial up their findability, can dial which we'll talk about later, can really dial up their appeal, but also can really help them position themselves as not a aged property. Maybe their buildings are aged, but their mindset is on the future. That is an absolute great point. I think, Kelly, from the marketing side of things, that's those differentiators that I think if you could maybe talk a little bit more about that and how to consider that marketing piece potentially for an aged property and how EV can elevate it. Of course. And apologies for any tech issues earlier, folks. Hopefully, you were able to catch what I had said. But yeah. Absolutely, Kate. I you know, it's it's in my title. I I'm always gonna be thinking with that marketer's mindset. And I think it's actually a really compelling way to think about this, not to necessarily put EV charging into the bucket of ads and expense or it's just an amenity or it's just part of our, you know, operations that we have to consider, that it's really maybe the most compelling marketing tactic that folks can take right now. And marketing obviously varies quite a bit from industry to industry, but at its core, there's 3 basic things that we are looking to accomplish. We're looking to attract, convert, and retain customers. Customers, in this case, obviously, being renters and tenants. And when you think about what EV charging does, it actually checks all of those boxes and not in a minimal way, actually in a really compelling way. So from an attract perspective, EV charging literally puts you on the map. Right? There are tools, and we're gonna talk about those in a moment, that folks use to find EV charging destinations. So when we say we are literally putting you on the map, we we mean that we're literal. Right? You are going to show up in spaces, in searches, in tools that you wouldn't have otherwise. Right? And you're going to be exposing your brand and your property to new potential clients that you otherwise either wouldn't be reaching or you would be spending marketing dollars, right, to get in front of these folks. And so the attraction piece, I think, is really compelling. Conversion. Right? Converting someone from, hey. You're you're checking me out to now you're an actual customer or tenant. Same thing. One thing that you guys touched on that I'll reiterate here is if you're an EV driver, the ability to charge at home is kind of a nonnegotiable. Right? Because when you think about how charging fits into someone's lifestyle, their life patterns, the easiest place and time to charge is when you are at home. Right? You already have this time. You can use that time to charge versus if you remove that option for somebody. Now you have to go out and seek charging elsewhere. Right? You have to change your life patterns to be able to be an EV driver. And so that conversion piece, especially if someone already is an EV driver, is really, really strong. And then retention, both Kate and Carrie, you both have touched on the growth potential here and how much this is a part of the future. This is happening. Right? Everybody will eventually have to make this a foundational, I'm gonna air quote amenity. I I don't even know that I would call it that. Right? It is just gonna be part of what all residential units, multifamily or whatever, will have to incorporate. And so as EV charging e and drivers and demand increases, this is gonna become something that people are going to basically demand of their multi unit dwellings. And so if you don't have this, you run the very real risk of losing really fantastic tenants. Right? Because again, for them, this is not really a negotiable part of their life. So with that, we're actually gonna look at a real life example of this through Apartments dotcom. But before we actually pull up the example, Kara, would love your thoughts just quickly on, you know, whether it's apartments.com or tools like that. How do they fit into the renter's journey, right, their search process and how they ultimately make their decisions? Well, you came to the right person for marketing and multifamily. I'll tell you that. And I wanna back up though and, you know, kinda go off course, but stay on course and say, renters want to charge at home. But what about someone like me that I work at home? I I, you know, I think that the work from home model, whether it be full time, part time, it's big time. Right? And if I were to need to charge at my office, I don't have an office. So for me to say, hey. I'm gonna go out and eat so I can charge my vehicle or go shopping, that that's not gonna happen. So I think I just wanted to really highlight that I know COVID brought out a lot of unique work from home situations, and there were a lot of infrastructure updates for Wi Fi. So I know that a lot of you didn't have the choice to make that update. You have the choice now, and we're gonna talk about how easy it can be later. I just felt that that's something I really wanted to drive home as it came up, you guys, that, you know, someone like me might not have the opportunity to charge outside of my home, so I definitely would would need it. So let's talk about the search. I loved how you talked about attract and convert. So attracting, happens many different ways. But when somebody is very unhappy in their apartment home for, you know, a variety of reasons, They may have an income change. They may have a person that is moving in with them or moving out. They may have a reason to move to a new town, or maybe they're just really displeased with some of the, features in their own apartment. They, are going to seek out a new one. There's a variety of ways that they're gonna do this. I'd love to say that word-of-mouth and referral is still as big as it once was. But you know what? We got this in our hands. We got our phones in our hands. So we take to digital marketing. We take to the Internet, and we typically Google 2 bedrooms in the town I want, pet friendly apartments, or apartments that have EV charging. And what's gonna happen, we're gonna see a whole lot of paid ads at the top, but then we're also going to see what we call Internet listing services. And this is where a rent.com or an apartments.com, we've all seen the commercials, takes place. Well, apartments.com, it does have some nuances to it, but at the end of the day, it's putting you in a list. It's putting you in a list. It's putting you in a box putting you in a box with all your other competitors, and your job is to check every amenity, check everything that you can in that system so that when someone starts pairing down their options because you know what? I go on there Kate, I don't know about you. I I think there's, what, a million a million available on their website. Is that right? I I believe so. Okay. So a million on the site a million. Over a million on the site. That's a lot. I don't wanna tour a 1,000,000 properties. I don't wanna tour 50. I maybe wanna tour 3. So what am I gonna do with my you know, how am I gonna get from a 1,000,000 to 20 to 3? I'm gonna start changing the rents. I'm gonna start changing the bedroom count. Maybe I don't need 3 bedrooms. Maybe I only need 2. Maybe I'll work for my bedroom. Maybe I'll work for my living room. And then I'll say, okay. Do I need to be pet friendly? Do I need it to have a washer dryer? And, yes, EV charging is now a filter on large listing sites like apartments.com. So it's really important as you're looking through what's on your want list versus what's on your need list. EV charging, if it's not on the need list, it's getting there very, very fast for a multitude of reasons. So I think we have, a little bit of a slide on that or did you already show that to them? Nope. We're having to pull that up right now. Walk it through. I think we were talking about a a great place that I we all kind of have been, at least the people on this conversation have been. So, yeah, Kelly, you want to kind of walk us through, this search through Apartments dotcom? Yeah, absolutely, Kate. So we chose a small to midsize metro area, like Kate was saying, near and dear to our hearts here in upstate New York. So this is looking at Saratoga Springs, which I think is a really fantastic example. It is a destination. It's thriving. It's got, you know, great schools, all of those things that, you know, I think would be closely connected with a thriving renter community. Right? So I think this is a great example. This is I thought it was a great example too, Kelly, not to totally interrupt, but, like, the rental market is is showing as warm. The average rental prices in that area, if you're just looking in that region, is about 200 or $2,400 a month. There there's good schools. It's it's priority apartment location. Great context, Kate. Yep. Absolutely. So in theory, right, I think why this is such a great example is you would expect there to be EV charging. Right? There this is a affluent. There's a ton of jobs. It's a hot market. And yet when we apply the search criteria, as folks can see on the slide here, even though there's over 400 properties available, when we apply EV charging, we get no search results. And even though we're, you know, in this period of time for this discussion, we're not showing many, many examples like this. I think it's fair to say that this is not uncommon. Right? I don't think folks listening in should think that, oh, well, gosh, they cherry picked this area. Right? But if I picked different areas and, you know, I looked around like this can't be that prevalent, it very much is. Right? And so I think not only is this really stark when you see data like this, this is that opportunity that the 3 of us really keep emphasizing to our listeners here because this is I'm going to put my marketing hat back on. This is your first mover advantage. Right? If you were a property owner within Saratoga Springs and you were the one that had EV charging, you are now the only one. It went from AC of 400 plus to just you. Right? And that won't always be true. Right? Like we said, the the momentum, the growth, the stats are pretty conclusive at this point. Right? This this wave is coming. But when we talk about, you know, the time is right, we we mean it. Right? The time is really right that for folks that jump in here early, you really do have that additional benefit of that, first mover advantage. And just as kind of like a a silly comparison here, you know, we picked another community amenity here for dog park, and there are more search results there. Right? And so, you know, even for something that for me, I say life patterns and lifestyle. I don't know that I would even put dog park at the same level of urgency that I would put EV charging from a life pattern and lifestyle. I'm a dog owner and a lover, so take that, you know, through that lens. But there's more options for dog owners than there are for EV drivers. And I'll, I'm gonna take a page from Cara's book and go slightly off script because I want to tie what we're talking about here to an awesome comment that was added to the chat. And thank you to the person who wrote this because I think this is such a great example. I'll honor that I am speaking from a marketer's perspective. I'm speaking from a business perspective. And typically, most businesses, you wait for the business case. Right? You're waiting for this demand to be knocking at your door literally right before you take action. And I think that's something that we encounter quite often with EV charging. Well, no one's asking me for this. Right? And it's not an unfair comment and reaction. Right? That if that is someone's experience, then that's their experience. You can't negate that. But I actually think this example with Apartments dotcom is the answer. You're just flat out out seeing these people. They went elsewhere. You're not hearing about their demands because they looked online, you didn't meet the criteria, and they're off to someone else. And so I do think this is a forgive the the field of dreams reference. Right? But if you build it, they will come. I actually think this is the perfect example of that. You will see that pull through of that demand when this becomes available. Absolutely, Kelly, and and these are all great examples, and I thank those who are putting those questions and comments in the chat to help us drive this conversation, no pun intended, but kind of intended. So couple things too to kinda draw those comparisons, you know, looking at some of those details, we know that when we add these features to those listings, just like Kelly said, I wanna bring it back home. When we looked at EV charging and we had those 413 results, maybe those locations do have EV charging. And, Cara, you had mentioned it before, make sure you update your amenities and these kinds of searches because you don't want to miss out on the opportunity if you already have built infrastructure, or if you have these great assets at your communities. You wanna put them in there. But right now, if I was a renter, I you would be missing that opportunity to cater to me, an EV driver, to come look at your property. Kate, it cracks me up too because, there's something that we do in the industry called market surveys, and they they've adopted. They've adapted over time. It used to be picking up the phone and calling the leasing agent and saying, what special are you running? What are your rents? That type of thing. Now people go on-site and look around. Well, an owner would not hesitate to update their hardware on their cabinetry or their flooring if they saw their competitor was doing it. And so I I urge you because this isn't, you know, as easy as changing out your flooring, not that that's easy. But it's definitely something that you need to plan for, and we're gonna talk about later, you know, why LinkWell is really helping you get there faster. So, don't don't if you in the past, if you would update your property because your competitor was doing it, why would this be any different? Well, just be the first one. Get out there. Awesome. And that and that first mover advantage is really important to today's conversation. And we're going to summarize the points that we just went through quick. I'm just including EV charging if we haven't said it enough. It can increase your property value, it's going to attract those higher quality tenants, and having that infrastructure in place can serve as that key differentiator. You know, it's enhancing the tenant experience and improving those retention rates. And, of course, you know, we wouldn't be here to tell a little bit more of our story from the link well side about the charging hardware and software that property owners can optimize that operational efficiency while offering that premium service that people expect in the place that they live. So I kinda wanna switch gears and jump into it. Kara, I'm gonna put you in the hot seat again. And when we spoke recently, you made it very clear that you and other property owners, not and building managers, have a lot on their plate. I think we can say that for a lot of us in all different industries, but what are you hearing from your members when it comes to hardware and software and the operations associated with EV charging and technology? Can you tell us a little bit about what you've been hearing? Yeah. Well, the way I can phrase it to you is there's not enough minutes, hours, days in the week to look at everything out there. And, you know, email once was email and websites and the Internet and searching bars. They they are beautiful things, but they are no longer easy to use. Inboxes are full of vendors inundating us, sending us whatever they think that we wanna hear, and we don't. We just want them to go away. But, you know, it is really hard to cut through the noise because of limited time, limited resources, and limited funds to really dig into this. That that's kind of you know, at at at the simplest way, Kate and Kelly, my my owners and operators and my association, they don't have enough help. They don't have enough time, and they don't even know where to start. And I think I wanna also kinda twist this a little bit and add technology. Although they know they need to be heading in that direction, I think there's sometimes, a little bit of concern because once they put this out to market, how can they be reassured that it's going to work the way it's been promised? You know, online payments, for example, were not something that everybody had rolled out until COVID. And some owners, operators I know that were, you know, 1st, 2nd, 3rd generation that didn't have to have online payments for their rent, they had not had it rolled out because when they, implemented stuff in the past, they went horribly. So, you know, there's a little bit of fear. There's a lot of lack of funds and understanding. But either way, no matter how you put it, it it's kind of a scary hump to get over. So, that's what we're hearing. So, you know, I hope that helps. I mean, fear is definitely something that we wanna we wanna make sure that you understand that that technology shift doesn't have to be scary. I mean, you talked before too about, you know, maintenance. Like you said, it's that operation. How is it going to work once the ink is dry and these, units are in the ground? You had mentioned before too when we when we had talked about updates and repairs and all of these things to take off their plate. So the first thing we wanted to put out to listeners today is about apartment owners need to select the right hardware for charging stations. And the best use case, we kind of teased it throughout the conversation, is potentially a level 2 charging station, which is the most common type of charger in a multi unit dwelling. It's something that delivers enough power where a car can can fuel up overnight or over a longer period of time. That seems to be the best use case for most multi unit dwellings, and these typically deliver around 20 to 40 miles an hour of charge. So it makes sense for those kinds of for locations like the ones that your members go to. So apartments where people charge overnight, a level 2 charger might be the right solution. And that's where you have to start. You have to pick the the right product. So kind of guiding more folks to making sure they start with the right hardware and then into those software solutions. You know, something I think that's that's really interesting is people seem to think that they only need fast chargers. Right? And I have to I have to believe in my heart that they've priced themselves out by thinking they only need fast chargers. So I love that you're talking about these level 2 chargers, which, you know, I think it's a funny name because that kinda makes you think that you're getting a subpar charger. Well well, you're not. All you're doing is providing the amenity at a reasonable rate, you know, for your residents. So I think that's something that we really need to lean into. We need to lean into, are we selecting the right hardware? Or, you know, as I'm walking around, apartmentalize, that happens every year for NAA, and I'm being, you know, mobbed by the 7 to 10 EV charging experts in the room, right, supposed experts, you know, are they are they offering the right fit solution to me, or did I look at this before and maybe I pick something that was out of my price range when I had other options? So, anyways, Kate, I just kinda wanted to bring that up. I I love I love partnering with, your group because of the education behind it and the thought behind it. And I really just wanted to kinda throw that in there because I do think that's a missed a misstep that people make. Well, thank you for adding that in there, and we appreciate, you know, all of the input that we get from your members about what they are looking for. But to your point, that education piece is really important to us because we wanna make sure that you're picking the right thing for the right use case. So level 2 chargers can be a great opportunity for apartment owners and managers to make sure that they're offering the amenity that their residents are looking for without breaking the bank. And, Kelli, do you want to maybe chime in a little bit about some of the software solutions and things that we can do to help again reduce those costs and make sure that owners and operators have what they need to be successful? Yeah. You bet. And I love where this conversation is going because to me, when I think of multiunit dwelling charging, it's everything you need, but nothing you don't. Right? These guys need simple, elegant solutions. We recognize you guys are likely not EV charging experts, but you don't have to be. Right? That is not a hurdle that people need to clear to offer this as an amenity. And so I think it's true on the hardware side and just as true to your point, Kate, on the software side. So each project is different. Each site is different. I think it's helpful to walk through just a couple of the software features that tend to resonate with multiunit dwelling EV charging destinations, but please don't consider this an exhaustive list. It is just the ones, again, that tend to come up most frequently for this use case. So first one is our US based software team has developed load management capabilities. So when you have multiple vehicles plugged into multiple chargers, that power to leverage that functionality within our software platform. Obviously, as you have multiple sites, larger buildings, this is something that can become increasingly important. And I'll tie it to even something that Cara mentioned earlier. Right? Not every building is a new building. Right? We have to work around aging buildings, different power supplies. Right? And so having this additional level of elegance within the software side actually can be a great way to kind of close that gap between what a building is able to do and the actual EV charging infrastructure that we can put there. Another aspect that I think is worth touching on is and, Kate, I think you brought this up, this idea of there's the initial project, right, but then there's the ongoing life cycle of having this on your property. And I'll go back to something I said earlier about what attracted me to LinkWell. It is that total solution. So we have done and continue to do every aspect of the EV charging value chain. And what has come out of that is this breadth of experience around, I'm going to say practicality. Right? There's the pretend world and then there's the real world. Right? And I think no one does real world better than LinkWell. And so one of the new products that we just launched within the past couple of months is our own level 2 Xlink EV charger. Why do I bring it up in this context? I bring it up because this is the perfect use case for Xlink. Reason being, when you have a charger, a lot of the components that often need attention with other chargers, it's baked into the charger itself. Right? So if you have a maintenance issue, it is charger holistic. That's not a real phrase. I just invented that, but it's charger holistic. What we did with the XLink is all of those components that you would need to access are on the back of the faceplate. So if you ever have an issue or even you wanna make an update, it doesn't even necessarily have to be maintenance related, you literally can use basic hand tools. And within less than 5 minutes, you can replace that faceplate and return to functionality. You're not waiting hours, if not days, for a specialist. You do not have to replace the entire unit, which folks can imagine would be incredibly costly. This is something that when we talk about real life practical value, makes it really easy for folks that, again, you're not EV charging experts, that you could actually have these and and either maintain them yourself or certainly partner with a company like LinkWell. But I I wanna draw that distinction that it doesn't always have to be this incredibly intricate, highly technical experience, that there are really practical ways that you can have years of successful use and functionality within a product like LinkWell's Xlink charger. So, again, when we talk about LinkWell providing that complete solution, I think this is just such a really tangible example of that. Carol, kind of pass the mic over to you just from a real life perspective of, you know, what it's like when you have to, like, pull in someone else to service something. How does that hit you, you know, and what real barriers does that create for property owners? Oh, it's tremendously hard given the lack of existing resources. Right? And the waiting and the downtime and the maintenance tickets staying open and and just I could go on all day. So having a partner throughout this entire holistic process is, tremendously valuable. And, we know firsthand here that when you don't have resources, it's great to have it's great to have someone you can pick up and, you know, I call it the bat phone. You know, someone that you can pick up and call the bat phone. But it's more important when someone can get in the batmobile and actually, like, be there to be your Batman. God. Yes. I said that. So, having the holistic opportunity to have somebody who understands and can plan out your EV charging. And by the way, you know, if we didn't say it, we are heading into shoulder season with leasing. There are a lot of people still moving through the end of the year, but that huge part is really, what, May to September, give or take. So, starting the process now, you can never plan too early for your future. I have found that planning right now for next year, in early spring is super important. But having a partner who can do all this with you, there is not a dollar amount you can put on that as far as valuable. So I can go there. I I love that you say that too, Kara, because we haven't mentioned it here. But the LinkWell team, we are a 100% colocated here in the United States. So when you pick up that bat phone, you are calling the person who has the hardware and the software as well as the maintenance solutions. We're all under one a one big bat cave. So, it's great to to know that when you are picking up the phone, you're getting all the experts all in in one spot. Yeah. If if, you know, one thing that comes up a lot when the multifamily operators are looking for new solutions, a lot of the time, they they are asking, okay. Who who is my who is my client success? Who is my customer success person? Am I calling someone here? Am I calling someone, you know, a third party? And and we do realize that in multifamily, we have adopted to things like call centers and such, but it it doesn't mean just just because our operators use call centers, it doesn't mean that they want to call a call center. They still want answers yesterday. So I love that your group has really understood the needs and really has buckled down because we know that comes at a cost, right, to you guys internally. You guys value it. We value it too. Well and we also understand too the importance that opportunity that the sites the Hypes host is using to they've maybe decided to put these on as we're talking about, you know, retention opportunities and and ways to add more to their locations is that this is a value stream or an income stream potentially. So we want to make sure that we're doing everything we can to keep those charging stations up and running. I know we can have this conversation all day, but I do want to move on to our our last point because, Cara, you and I and Kelly, you also know about leaving money on the table, and finding opportunities to reduce out of pocket expenses is something that we can all agree is something we wanna do, making sure that we tell folks a little bit about funding opportunities and how we can maybe reduce those expenses. So, Kara, in the multiunit space, do you wanna kinda give us a little information about the importance of kind of creative solutions to find some value stream or for add additional funding streams, and revenue options? Yeah. I'll just kinda keep it very high level, and thank you so much in the chat, for correcting me. Ancillary income can be considered your fees, anything that's outside of your rent. So fees are one income stream. I always think it's separate, because you still have your special programs, credit reporting, dog walkers, maybe if you provide that. All of your rentable spaces, if you're renting out guest rooms, like guest suites, if you're renting out community room or maybe a pool party for, a local resident, and closing down that amenity for the day. And then also services, your valet trash, your cable, your laundry if it's still on-site. So there's a whole variety of ways that you can bring extra income in, and that's, of course, you know, EV kind of checking the box of providing something to retain your residence, but also let's get that income stream. I mean, gosh, Kate, I think it was you and I chuckling a few years back on how somebody had the foresight to put it in, but they didn't know they could charge for it. And, all of a sudden, the light bulb went on. Right? So, but I think what's tough again is alright. You're trying as an owner, you're trying to manage your expenses. So if you sit back and you look at the cost of putting in these fast chargers, to use the example from earlier, versus something that might be well suited for your property, something on a tier 2 or a level 2, you could really tap into a lot of the different grants and benefits and things in your local state and area. I can also say that, you know, the time is ticking. It's it's limited. Have a lot of partners reaching out to me saying, how can we get this in front of your people? Because, you know, the money is there. So can you guys help us figure out how they figure out where the money is and how they can start that process? Because it it can't be quick. Right? Like, I can't go on my local electric company today and by October 1 have money in my pocket. So, like, how does this work? And if it's and if that's true, like, let me know now, and I'll go do it. Sure. And, Kelly, do you wanna maybe we can you can take this one and talk a little bit about some of the software solutions and then some of the features that that we can help folks out with. You bet. So couple things to touch on. I know. We are one mind as always. So one thing that, Carrie, you brought up, which I think is really helpful, is the idea of monetizing your chargers. Right? We talk about them as an amenity. But one of the other features within the LinkWell software platform is you can create what we would call driver groups. So you can it is ultimately flexible, but a lot of the use cases we see within, use cases like this would be you offer it at a discounted or free rate for your tenants, but then you charge non tenants for the use of your chargers. You can, organize, bucketize, groups like that, however makes sense for you. And then everything is within your control from a discounting perspective within the software platform. Really simple to use. But again, just another thing to think about that, you know, this really could be an investment that quite literally pays you back in a multitude of different ways. So that's on the monetization side. On the funding and incentive side, yeah, Kara, I couldn't agree with you more. When we talk about the timing is right, it is right for so many reasons. 1st mover advantage, we've talked about. Now we're talking about funding. When we talk about this clean energy revolution and the need for infrastructure, there is so many dollars out there to support this, but that won't always be the case. Right? So we highly encourage people to consider this immediately. Right? Whether you take the first step, you know, the minute you hang off, you know, hang up the phone off of this webinar. You know, I'm not saying that, but I think you should start considering this immediately. And it doesn't have to be a lift. Right? So I think the good news is that there's all of these different programs from the federal, state, and utility level. There's all kinds of funding opportunities, but you don't have to be an expert in that either. So I advanced the slide because I'm showing a screenshot of LinkWell's website. If you go to linkwell.com and you go to solutions and then procurement, you can see our funding finder. And literally, this is an interactive tool. You type in your zip code, and then it's gonna work you through a curated set of questions around the types of chargers, the use of chargers, and then eventually you will get a report that shows you all of the different funding opportunities available to you. And you can either click the contact us, work directly with LinkWell, talk to our experts about what that process would look like, and we can certainly help you with it. Or you can click out to the actual website itself, learn more about the program. But again, just another example where you can take advantage of these things really easily without it being a burden, without you being an expert in it. That's why you partner with a company like LinkWell so we can help walk you through this. But there is absolutely money on the table here that, man, if you're not thinking about it, now is the time for sure. Carol, I'll turn it back over to you. Would love your reaction to that, right, from a an industry perspective. Is this something that you think would be valuable for property owners? And, Carrie, your mic is muted. You just have to unmute yourself. Trying to make sure that my thoughts don't just come bubbling out of me because I get excited. Sorry. So, you know, really what I love the most about this is the mix, and and this is so important. Right? Everybody thinks they want self-service, and everyone thinks they wanna go and they wanna learn. But what I love is that you've kind of met people in the middle where, like, you can go on and educate yourself about what funding are there, but then you can also collaborate with your group. So I think that's fantastic. I also think something that we need to be very mindful of is we, as as people in the industry, we are constantly watching the different laws that pass. Right? We're watching all the regulation, and, you know, it's pretty tough out there. I'm not gonna lie, especially if in your in the state of New York like we are here. But, you know, obviously, there's different states, Oregon, Washington, and California, and, of course, you know, New York City. You know, things are going to start to pass. Right? I know there was a law in New York that by a certain year, everything needs to to be EV or you're going to have a fee. So, you know, I really think that, historically, the multifamily, multi dwelling unit industry is proactive. And I'm really happy to say that we've been more reactive, but I think this is a great opportunity to continue that evolution of being reactive while the money is out there to do it for you. So that's kind of my reaction. I love the the the mix of you're letting people find the information on their own, but I also think we need to be really aware that this find funding opportunity page, a year from now, it might not be there. There's definitely a lot of opportunity right now, and we're so happy to be able to offer this feature to our customers, potential customers to to put it all in one spot because as we said, we know your plate is full. So just as a jumping off point to see if there's something available, from a broader view that is a great place to start. But, I also want to point out quick too that there's usually make ready utility funding, so the major utilities across the states are right now, this is an act now kind of situation, most of the major utilities have funding that can cover a lot of different pieces up to the charging stations themselves, so conduits, panels, all things that you can then take off your plate, and have those covered. Something again, our team is happy to help walk you through that and see what is available and out there, but it's a great opportunity to invest in EV charging when you take advantage of the incentives and capitalize on the benefits that we're discussing. Again, as I said at the beginning, it just makes sense. As we're I know the clock is ticking down in our time today. I do wanna open it up to questions and answers. We did have a lot of folks. We thank you so much for everybody who's participating and putting those questions and answers in the chat. We were able to answer them as we went through in the conversation, so most of them are out there. But I did see one that came through about billing, and the question was how does billing work for chargers? And I think we kind of touched on it, but maybe we didn't make it clear. Kelly, do you want to take that one? Sure. So, ultimately, this is something that, you know, when you work with a partner like Lynxpot, we can walk you through that. I think this is it there's a couple of different flavors. Right? There's billing to the site host themselves. Right? And there's billing to the EV driver. The experience to the driver actually depends on your software provider. Right? Not everybody necessarily does this the same. LinkWell traditionally does this on a monthly basis. And so to me, as a EV driver and how I've interacted with it, it's incredibly convenient. I would also say it's also very clear within the driver app. So for LinkWell, our driver app and our network is called Vialynk. That's v I a l y n k. So if you go today and download the Vialynk app, even if you're not a driver yet, you'll get a flavor for that user experience, but it really is very, very elegant, from a driver perspective. Thank you for answering that Kelly, and I'm getting from the question not sure if that meant from the driver's side or from, the actual site owner side. I can't believe that we've been talking for an hour, and it does it looks like we're right about at time. So, with no other questions that we haven't answered through the conversation here, I just wanna say, Kelly and Kara, thank you so much for sharing your insights and perspectives today. I think for those in the audience, if you're not already tuned in, I invite you to sign up for link well's newsletter. It's called Plugged In. That's our e newsletter, and you can go to linkwell.com to get signed up. Then you'll have access, to see other webinars like this that we put on today. There's other information and industry insights, and we would love to have you following along. So, again, that's at linkwell.com. And I, again, thank you so much for, for coming, for listening, for sharing your, perspectives. Kelly, k, Kara, I'm gonna give you the last word as we wrap up. I'll jump you go first. Yes, ma'am. First. Thank you for the electrifying conversation. Pun intended. If you are interested in getting involved in your local apartment association chapter, you can always go on to naahq.org. And then if you're in my neck of the woods, aptsofny.org, and I just wanted to also take a moment to congratulate the LindWell team, as being a huge supporter of Drive Electric Week. You guys continually have the largest one across the nation in Schenectady, New York, and, I'm really proud to have you guys in our hometown. So thank you for what you're doing for the community. That's awesome. Thank you, Cara. Yeah. I will echo everything that Cara said and and just leave folks with this in that. If you're curious, reach out. Right? We've presented a ton of information today. The purpose of doing that wasn't to answer every single question. It was to make folks feel comfortable taking that next step. When we talk about the importance of having a great partner and offering that total solution, this is really it. Right? That we can walk you through all of these things. The only thing that we really need from you for this first step is just be curious to learn more. Right? And how can we make this something that could be a reality, right, for your property or hopefully multiple properties? So hopefully everybody feels confident in at least looking into this as an option for their properties going forward. Thank you so much, and I'm going to leave our contact information up on the screen for any of you out there or any of you watching the replay. Please, as Kelly said, reach out. We're happy to have a conversation with you and take you on this journey with us, so have a great day. Thank you for joining us, and we look forward to having you at more link well webinar series. Thank you, and have a great day.