Socket to me – rethinking electric car charging

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A few months ago, I wrote a column about electric car charging in apartment blocks, and what we should do if the currently minimal demand suddenly takes off, with more strata owners agitating for some way of being able to charge their cars at their homes.

Reading the informed discussion that followed on the Flat Chat Forum, I realised that I – like many in strata – had this completely the wrong way around.

We have become brainwashed by years of using petrol pumps into thinking that the only way to fuel our cars is to drive up to an outlet, plug our cars in, and be ready to drive on in a matter of minutes.

The fact that very few of such outlets exists, is a major deterrent to buying an electric vehicle for most people in Australia.

But, hang on! Is that what we really need?  Do we need to “fill up” while we are out on the road, or before we set off? Maybe en route in long journeys, but for inner-city runabouts, definitely not.

Here’s the thing – most electric cars come with an adaptor (for want of a better word) that allows you to charge up overnight from a normal three-pin electric socket (and I am indebted to Flat Chat strataguru Sir Humphrey for this enlightening perspective).

So, rather than pulling up to an electric “pump”, you just plug into the mains when you come home and the car is charged up and ready to go next morning.  Not only that, you are using off-peak electricity, so it’s a lot cheaper.

And if your building isn’t run by climate change denialists, you might even have solar power in the block to make it cheaper to charge up during the day.

The downside is that, unless you can get direct access to your flat or townhouse’s electricity supply, you’d probably have to install a meter so that the owners corp could charge you for using its electricity.

So what you you do?  Here are our pros and cons for electric car charging in your block.

BEST OPTION – Overnight off-peak charging

PROS: It’s convenient and a lot cheaper.  Your car is quietly charging up while you are sleeping. Also, the installation is truly user-pays – the majority of owners don’t have to pay a cent or give up a square centimetre of common property.

CONS: You have to remember to plug in after you have driven the vehicle.  Also, unless you are in a townhouse with an adjoining garage, you have to find a way of paying for common property electricity supplied via utility sockets in the car park, probably through a locked meter.

The cost for that is far from prohibitive – about $100 for a basic meter, plus installation –  but it’s a consideration.

NEXT BEST OPTION – Individual fast charging

PROS: If you can’t be bothered with charging on off-peak power overnight, you can always install a fast charging unit in your own car space.

CONS:  You have to install three-phase power, with all the cabling that requires, plus a meter so you can be charged for it, not to mention all the strata by-laws that would have to be written and approved. The cost for that could run to several thousand dollars.

NEXT WORST OPTION – Communal fast charging

PROS:  Installation is at the owners’ corps expense and it’s as easy as driving up to a gas pump.

CONS: What happens when you need to charge up and get going and someone else is there before you?  Or the equipment breaks down? Or the person already in the charging bay has gone off to have breakfast? Or, more to the point, no one else in the block wants it, so it never happens?

Dump the pump

When you think about it, the combination of easy access, cheaper electricity and minimal infrastructure makes the overnight “trickle” charge the obvious option.

I wouldn’t even look at the other possibilities until I had explored this thoroughly. Most modern blocks have electrical sockets in their car parks for basic domestic needs.

Encourage your owners corporation to add a catch-all by-law to allow for and regulate the installation of individual supply meters.

Then add a lockable socket and a meter, or, even better a meter that can only be used with an access code or swipe card, and you have access to greener and much cheaper power now and for the future.

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3 Replies to “Socket to me – rethinking electric car charging”

  1. LogicprObe says:

    The amount of solar able to be installed on a block of units would be lucky to power just one of the clothes driers inside, let alone charge a few cars.
    The best use of it would be to make use of a battery system to run the common property lights at night.

  2. Level_one says:

    Hi Jimmy,
    Another issue to consider is where a peak capacity charge is applicable to electricity usage that if a charger is used in peak period and this results in an increase in the Peak Capacity value for billing purposes this increased cost is applicable for a full 12 month period even if the charger is used only within one 30 minute period in that whole 12 months. As an example a 10Kva increase in peak capacity value would add approx $1300 p.a. to the Owners Corporation power bill. If only one resident is charging an electric vehicle will all owners wish to share the increased cost or should the user pay the extra $1300 p.a. billed to the Owners Corp? There are now automatic load monitoring systems to manage the power allocation for vehicle chargers so that only excess power capacity is allocated to charging station but these would need to recognise daylight saving time changes or make sure the operating times were sufficiently restricted to avoid any charging in peak periods.
    Just another complication to consider but no doubt technology will provide a solution.

    Cheers

    Refer Ausgrid for explanation of Peak Capacity Calculation as below.
    3.7.2 Capacity charge
    A capacity charge is a price applied (in cents per kW or kVA per day) to the maximum half hourly
    kW or kVA demand reading2
    that occurred in the peak period (that is, between 2pm and 8pm on a
    working weekday) at a customer’s connection point over the billing periods that relate to the
    previous 12 months including the current billing period. The volume to which the capacity charge is
    applied is known as the “billable maximum capacity”.3

  3. Jimmy-T says:

    This is now being discussed in the Flat Chat Forum

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