EV charging in apartment blocks - an unresolved challenge?

There is uncertainty internationally around how to best support EV owners in apartment blocks to charge their cars. In Sydney 30% of people live in apartment blocks or other types of multi-unit buildings (and 16% across Australia, including 370,000 ‘high rise’ apartment blocks). In Germany, it is as high as 56% and in Sweden, 49%. With so many people unable to access a private driveway to charge at home, we need practical solutions that can be implemented now, or it will deter apartment dwellers from buying an EV. And those that buy EVs despite this inconvenience will seek local charging options when at home, blocking road side chargers (or trailing cables from their apartment/garage). Most cars spend the bulk of the week at home and at work. It’s common for cars to spend at least 22 hours of the day parked at one of these two places, and for every hour they are plugged into a level 1 charger, in Australia (240V) they can add 2.4-3.6 kWh – approx. 15-20 km – of charge into the car, and with a Level 2 charger in an apartment block about 7kWh or 30-45 km of range. So, charging at home is often the most convenient option for apartment dwellers to ensure they can gain adequate charge in a day.

In Australia, the initially favoured approach by government has been to guide owners of apartment blocks to undertake electrical upgrades to accommodate L2 chargers in shared parking areas. But the cost of retrofitting L2 charging into existing apartment blocks is providing a major deterrent to proceeding. Owners are reluctant to take on high capital costs for the equipment itself and for upgrades required to electricity supply and power boards, plus the inconvenience and friction that often results from EV owners having to shift around vehicles to vacant L2 chargers and back. And who is going to be willing to move their car at 2AM for another car to use?

How can we ensure tenants in apartment blocks can get the fundamental EV charging service they need now, avoiding lengthy delays and major capital contribution requirements, so that EV ownership is not limited by the current barriers faced which include:

• Access to sufficient electricity supply capacity within the property to support charging needs, and in some cases from the distributor to the property. And the cost of electrical upgrades which may require capital works funding.
• The cost of getting charging points for all that need them in their own parking space (including the requisite chargers, metering and communications), allowing them to conveniently charge whenever they please.
• Complexities gaining approval from strata committees and owners (especially from those without an EV). [Note that NSW, strata title legislation voting requirements to allow these investments to proceed are that ‘less than 50% are against the resolution’].
• Lack of time and skills to specify and manage complex upgrades.
• WIFI communications in apartment block parking stations are often problematic because they are concrete and steel boxes.
• Owners and body corporates need a way for measuring and collecting payment for all the power used from the common supply.

Having EV charging installed in apartment blocks will increase saleability of apartments and thus preferentially increase sale price, at least while this is not a commonly available feature. So, there is also a strong incentive for body corporates to get on board providing an economical solution is available.

What combination of features would make EV charging work for apartment dwellers and property owners?

• Given that cars in apartment buildings are parked long enough to accommodate low-power Level 1 (L1) charging (2.4kW to 3.6kW) in private car spaces, use L1 metered chargers to reduce equipment cost, and allow faster implementation, without needing high cost upgrades to electrical supply infrastructure. These can be economically Installed at each tenant parking spot, providing convenient charging for apartment dwellers without the hassles and conflict accessing a small number of shared L2 chargers in common areas.
• To ensure users can access as much charging as possible without overloading existing infrastructure, implement an effective load management system which controls the charging rate to all chargers, and always shares the full available capacity.???????
• Ensure the wiring and communications infrastructure allows for a simple upgrade path to L2 chargers. ?
• Use reliable powerline carrier communication, simplifying the installation by using the power wiring for comms, and avoiding the reliability challenges from using WIFI.?????
• Tenants should have an app on their mobile phones for easy identification, which tracks usage and automatically bills users for common electricity consumption. The applications would provide the body corporate with an overview of usage. ??????????

The benefits of this approach for network operators are that the solution is immediately affordable and accessible for all apartment blocks. And as all tenants with EVs have their own charging point, they are more likely to plug in at home rather than spilling out onto the streets to use public road-side charging as it becomes available. In addition, the use of managed charging of L1 chargers combined with the charging system being compatible with network requirements like CSIP-AUS (to constrain the total charging load at an apartment building), makes apartment charging much easier for networks to integrate into their systems.

Combined Energy identified these needs and has developed a complete integrated solution, ‘inCharge’. CET has integrated a range of smart and cost effective solutions from their vast experience in home and commercial energy management (>7000 systems installed) and load management systems to this problem, so all elements of the system are well proven in the field.

For further information about InCharge see www.combined.energy/incharge