A Fairfax County program is bringing shared EV chargers to McLean condo communities that lack private garages.

The Encore of McLean Condominium Unit Owners Association installed four single-port chargers in January through Charge Up Fairfax, according to the Fairfax County Office of Environmental and Energy Coordination. The Colonies at McLean is still working to implement its chargers, FFXnow reported.

Charge Up Fairfax, established in 2023, provides grants and technical assistance to homeowners associations, places of worship and nonprofits looking to install Level 2 EV chargers in common areas. Level 2 chargers run on a dedicated 240-volt circuit and add 10 to 20 miles of range per hour, according to the county's program page. A full recharge takes roughly four to 10 hours.

Thirty communities countywide have enrolled so far, Hunter Mill District Supervisor Walter Alcorn said at an Oct. 15 ribbon-cutting for a new charger at Reston's Waterford Square condos. Fourteen of those participants are in Alcorn's Hunter Mill District, which covers Reston and parts of Vienna. Neither McLean community falls in that district; both are in the Dranesville District. No Dranesville-specific participation numbers were available.

Completed installations cited in a press release from Alcorn's office received grants between $5,000 and $10,000 each. The grant amounts for the two McLean communities were not disclosed.

For condo residents without a driveway or garage, the program addresses a basic barrier. Steve Garver, president of the Waterford Square Condominium Association in Reston, described the challenge in Alcorn's press release: "Nobody is going to get a car that they need to charge if they don't have a way to charge it."

Garver called the charger a "long-term commitment." Three of the 48-unit neighborhood's residents are expected to use it, with two others already owning EVs, FFXnow reported.

The installations come as Fairfax County faces a wide gap between its climate goals and current EV adoption. The county's 2021 Community-Wide Energy and Climate Action Plan set a target of 15% hybrid and electric vehicle registrations by 2030. As of 2023, EVs made up just 3% of registered vehicles countywide, or 29,055 cars, according to the county's Electric Vehicle Readiness Strategy released in 2025.

Fairfax County has about 369 non-home EV charging locations with 1,395 total ports, concentrated in the Reston, Herndon and Tysons areas, the strategy found.

The county is also expanding public charging at its own facilities, with more than 100 Level 2 ports at government buildings, community centers and parking garages. Most are open to the public for a fee on a first-come, first-served basis. Separately, the Board of Supervisors accepted a $2.5 million federal grant in June 2025 to install more publicly accessible stations.

Charge Up Fairfax is accepting applications on a rolling basis through the county's program page.