The apartments are brand new so I'm the only person with an electric car so far. They have a long row of parking spots that have charging stations (Ever Charge) in front of them.

When visiting other apartments, their charging spots have always been free. And so far, I've just been charging at a Wal-Mart nearby for $5 once a week or so, since I can't exactly string my Leaf's charging cable out to the apartment parking lot.

I asked how I could get one of the EV parking spots with charger access, and they told me it was $100 a month. That seems absurdly high to me... At my old townhouse I charged from the wall outlet and it was nearly free. At almost every public station I use, it's generally less than $10 to fully charge. I feel like the spots are just going to remain empty... I mean, part of the reason I got the car in the first place was to save money on gas, but if I have to pay that much to park in a completely empty lot with electricity it kinda defeats the purpose.

My only other option is to just keep crossing my fingers that the spot at Wal-Mart is empty when I need it and doesn't ever go offline.

Has anyone else had this problem? Is this as ridiculous as I think it is or am I crazy?

Edit: More context:

The parking spaces are uncovered. There aren’t any covered spots, EV or not.

The normal parking is completely free, and even comes with an extra parking pass for multiple cars. Only the EV spots have any kind of fee.

I’ve had this car for about 7 years, and was always able to charge it at whatever house I lived in. This is the first time I’ve had to deal with apartment parking since before I had the car.