One Georgia homeowner was frustrated to find their backward-thinking HOA in the way of their electric vehicle dreams.
"HOA doesn't let me have an electric car," they said in a Reddit post. They weren't sure why, either. "I am not aware of what kind of trouble this can make, but the government is pushing it with the incentive."
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Indeed, many HOAs act like it would be the end of the world — or at least the neighborhood — if the residents got electric cars. Some refuse to allow owners to charge in their own garages, and some insist they have to park inside. Some HOAs have even adopted policies about EVs that might be illegal in their states.
"They argue that I will want to put an outlet at my place. And I do in the future," said the original poster. But that doesn't seem like a problem. "I don't get it. Wouldn't Georgia Electric work with them?"
According to the homeowner, time is ticking away. "It is less than 10 years to reach the goal of all electric, and I think we are very far behind," they claimed.
Recently, the federal government has made a push for more electric vehicles. While the Biden administration isn't calling for all EVs in the next decade, the EPA has released a new set of rules for automakers that would encourage them to switch to about two-thirds EV sales by 2032. The switch would save U.S. drivers over $1 trillion within 30 years thanks to lower fuel and maintenance costs.
Not only that, but EVs don't produce tailpipe pollution. That's a far cry from traditional passenger vehicles, which belch out 3.3 billion tons of heat-trapping pollution each year. Once the higher manufacturing pollution costs of EVs are overcome, which typically takes around 15,000 to 20,000 miles of driving, EVs begin to be massive savers on pollution over gasoline cars even when the electricity is largely supplied by dirty energy sources.
Despite the fact that it would be a responsible and money-saving choice, HOAs often block EV ownership, just as they stand in the way of solar panels and clotheslines. But just like in those cases, the homeowner has options.
"Check your CC&Rs," one commenter suggested. "If there's no language there specifically barring an EV, they can go pound sand."
"There was a similar issue with HOAs and satellite dishes years ago," another user reassured the original poster. "Eventually laws were passed forcing HOAs to allow the dishes. In time the laws for EVs may catch up."
In the meantime, the original poster could try changing their HOA's rules to allow EV charging.
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