As the discussion of electric cars keep trending up, keen to know if anyone here living in an apartment complex owns an electric car? How do you charge/maintain the car, does the strata complex provide specific spaces for EV car to charge?
Or maybe EV cars at this stage are just not for people who live in apartment building? Just can't see how it's going to work out at this stage for apartment resident.
In our building, we have a charger that is installed in one shared spot, and people pay immediately with a card.
So how does it work in practice?
Do they just plug in and then return at some scheduled time and move the car to their own spot?
How does the next person know when to check for the spot being available?
Say 3 or 4 people need to charge their cars at night - 1st one plugs in at say 6pm and gets maybe 3-4 hrs charge then next one knows to come down at 9 or 10 and plug their car in and so on and so on?
Sounds like 1 or 2 may get to use it most nights.
Just wondering about the actual practicalities of this type of setup and how it works right now.
same, curious how this works. If there's no rule as to how long the car can stay, people can just charge and park there for as long as they want.
I don't have an EV car, so I had to check the details. You have to book it in advance, a maximum of 2 hours, and only during off hours (the parking spot is not just charging but also short-stay visitor parking).
You have to book it in advance, a maximum of 2 hours, and only during off hours (the parking spot is not just charging but also short-stay visitor parking).
If they get more than a couple of EV owners in the building it would be interesting to see what strata/body corp come up with. Hope you have someone on the committee who can plan ahead.
My strata building is definitely too dysfunctional and broke to organise this. I hope the Victorian government doesn't just spring it as a requirement like with some of the safety regulations they've imposed on old buildings.
They should
You're too wealthy for this website
Early days folks…..
Stratas all over this wide brown land are going to be dealing with it and already some are getting beefed up power main supplies etc.
Street chargers at curb side are a thing in London and likely many other places where ICE are required. They’ll slowly crank out here.
Also sure that where businesses provide an EV they’ll start to provide charging options either at the business or negotiate at car parks.
My council has been offering subsidies for chargers installation for a few years now.
It will all happen over time, and it’ll never be quite perfect.
Owning an EV in an apartment is going to have its moments, but it clearly works if folk want to make it work.
As for the ones that think it’s always going to be too hard - as Douglas Adams advised, ‘Just keep banging those rocks together’.
Owning an EV in an apartment is going to have its moments, but it clearly works if folk want to make it work.
The thing is, most of the time the folks want to make it work, but Strata does not.
Doesn't Strata have committee that votes on things? If most folks want it it shouldn't be a problem to get it done.
Many of apartment residents most likely does not own EV cars, which makes it harder to get them to vote. But it might be a different story if Strata supports it from beginning, they might be able to encourage people to vote on it
@Taro Milk Tea: The ride will turn. EV are still pretty new in the general market. Plenty for rich people, but as prices and availability come down there will come a point where it is completely normal to have charge points in lots of locations.
My guess is probably 2-3 years before many places make it easier to install chargers, or have them installed on a commercial arrangement.
@Taro Milk Tea: What Euphemistic said.
Remember too that it isn’t just putting wall outlets in. Many apartments complexes are likely to need larger main supply cables.
Not surprised that one of the projected skill shortages in the next few year will be sparkies…..
But remember too that as more get EVs apartments with charge points are going to be popular and get better rent, so it’s in owners interest to invest in this.
Vehicles and EVs are at a stage where they’re cheap(ish) and accessible for everyone. As it becomes a more mature market EVs will become luxuries that only the richest people will be able to afford and the concept of ownership will change. In the future no one will “own” a car much rather they’ll have a unlimited Uber subscription to summon a car from their phone whenever and wherever they are.
Vehicles and EVs are at a stage where they’re cheap(ish) and accessible for everyone
EVs are at that stage where it's cheap and accessible? I don't think so yet
If you have a standard power point accessible near your carpark that's probably the best plan.
Getting a dedicated charging point installed in an Owners Corporation property is hard work, whilst using a standard power point is pretty easy (as long as your cable isn't blocking anyone else / in anyone elses park / a safety hazard).
The first time you're told off for it then you should offer to pay for the electricity that you use (at slightly above the market rate for electricity). If the OC is offered a net-profit position (i.e. they spend $100/month on electricity, and you pay them $125/month) then they'd be much happier with it.
I believe in general the hard lines to the car parks don’t have the capacity for multiple EV charging. This needs to be factored in during the build or it can be extremely expensive to retrofit.
Just can't see how it's going to work out at this stage for apartment resident.
Very easily really. Just recharge as much as needed before parking your vehicle. Free for Teslas.
But, isn't apartment living the answer to Metro living without needing a vehicle?
What's the need for an obscenely expensive EV (today at least and compared to ICE) living in a metropolitan environment?
EVs suit the Metro environment the most, and just because you live in a unit doesn't mean you don't need a car.
p.s i didn't neg you
Not sure if EV will be that perfect. A smart ICE like the Smart seems the simplest option. Yes, no longer available in Australia since Mercedes Benz dropped as a hot potato.
Cars in city: Need versus want?
But yes, it is a personal choice.
The Flatchat website has some interesting articles about EV charging in relation to strata living, including the above mentioned story about the doctor who sold his EV. Just search EV charging on their website flatchat.com.au .
Standard 10a PowerPoints are available throughout our underground parking.
Future energy is coming soon. They will offer Home electricity + gas on subscription and you will be able to charge your car at any Ampol service station and charge it back to your home power bill
As long as you pay for the install (be it a normal or specialised outlet next to your spot) and there is a meter so you pay for the electricity used i don't see how the Strata Committee could reasonable say no. Get some kind of a lock on it so others don't use yours whilst you are out.
It's safe to say in 10-20 years this will be normal, or even legislated.
I believe some states are making preparations to ensure newly built apartments will have the infrastructure and by-laws necessary for EV chargers. For existing buildings you'll need to raise it with the owner's corporation.
I believe the steps are:
- Assess the electricity capacity coming into the building is adequate to install either shared chargers or individual chargers on owner's own car spaces
- Install the infrastructure (and capacity upgraded where necessary) to support the installation of EV chargers. This is the most expensive part and can cost tens of thousands of dollars
- Introduce by-laws to specify rules for installation and use of EV chargers and finally the last step will be for either individual owners to install their own chargers or shared ones
- Individual owners apply to the owner's corporation to install EV chargers or the owner's corporation agrees to install shared chargers
I would not use the standard power points in your carpark without first consulting with and obtaining permission from the owner's corporation as it's just not fair for the other owners that they'd be paying for the electricity to power your car.
currently building a new apartment project and we offer purchasers the option to install electric vehicle chargers.
The cost of it depends completely on the location of the charger and how far away the parking spot is away from the infrastructure it needs to run.
They are relatively easy to put during the early stages of construction, but once the area has to be built, it is a lot more difficult to install and run the wires.
These will be linked up to the electrical meter to their apartment and will not be billed to STRATA.
The current issue we're looking into at the moment is fire safety with electric vehicle chargers in car parks. The fires produced from lithium ion batteries are extremely hard to put out and can burn for hours and days and require far more water to reach full extinguishment.
The current issue we're looking into at the moment is fire safety with electric vehicle chargers in car parks. The fires produced from lithium ion batteries are extremely hard to put out and can burn for hours and days and require far more water to reach full extinguishment.
Considering the location of these EVs being normally below the residences, is there a risk of an increase in the severity of the any fire that originates with a Lithium ion battery? Is strata going to have to apply some sort of more stringent safety rules/equipment/structure going forward?
Apartment, my strata sucks, cringe even when trying to use wall plugs in the carpark.
Got M3 LR, doing daily school drops etc. I charge 10%-90% every 9 days on average, sometimes top up in shopping centres (in Sydney area lots of them have free chargers), full charge in nearby supercharger or networked fast charger. Recently they opened free charging in a shopping centre nearby so I can charge there (and I make them lots of business as that's my primary grocery shopping place). No worries at all, love the experience!
@norrisrules: This is one reason that it makes sense for a complex to set up a system from scratch, rather than letting each owner do their own thing. Network it all together using a consistent format.