In most situations it is not technically difficult, but the reality is that installing EV charging in apartment blocks faces a lot of regulatory and policy headwinds.
These range from objections to sharing the cost of install a building-wide charging system to addressing EV fire disinformation, and people who have yet to embrace electric mobility can offer a variety of reasons to not support chargers installations in their apartment building.
Further problems can arise if individual owners install charging in easy to access situations, as these can preclude equitable, building wide solutions.
However, as the EV Transition expands this problem is only going to grow – and if left unaddressed, would likely become an avoidable roadblock to apartment dwellers making the switch.
To address the issue, the Victorian Government has just released an EV-ready guide for owners corporations, which covers a lot of the main issues that strata committees can come across. It addresses technical and safety issues, as well as guidance on how to combat misinformation.
The guide covers:
- – developing an EV strategy and identifying an appropriate pathway for the building
- – assessing electrical capacity, infrastructure constraints and load-management options
- – comparing socket-outlet and dedicated charger based approaches
- – fair division of infrastructure, electricity and ongoing costs
- – identification of approvals required for the proposed works and funding model
- – managing electrical safety, insurance and compliance considerations
- – assessing suppliers, contracts, billing systems and long-term service arrangements
- – communicating, engaging and coordinating with lot owners to help bring them along the EV journey
- – designing effective EV charging surveys for strata; and
- – learnings from other Owners Corporations
The guide offers 34 pages of advice and case studies on how to choose the most appropriate EV charging solution and navigate through the various technical, commercial and legal obstacles that might arise.
A key point of the Guide is that Owners Corporations need to set up an ‘EV Strategy’ to ensure owners and Owners Corporations can make informed, fair and lawful decisions about EV charging. By doing so, they should more easily:
- – Identify the right pathway for the building
- – Enable planning for future demand
- – Create clarity and consistency
- – Improve fairness and reduce conflict
- – Support legal, safety and compliance obligations
It is worth noting here that the Guide: … “does not assume that a particular technical solution, or immediate installation, is appropriate. Instead, it provides a disciplined way to determine the most suitable pathway for the building”.
As a final note (as I have been pointing out for some time now in my conversations and public talks on the topic), the key point to installing EV charging in apartments is not that there is a one-size-fits-all solution.
Rather, whilst every situation is different and needs to be accepted as such, there are good basic guidelines for choosing, agreeing, installing and maintaining a cost-effective and equitable solution.
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