Hi All
I live in an apartment in CBD and was planning to buy a Tesla or BYD
Since the building doesn’t have EV infrastructure was wondering how do people in Appartments manage their vehicle charging.
Also any tips to save costs on EV charging would be helpful.
PS : I am on road constantly for work so need charging every second day as drive about 150 kms everyday.
If you have EV's charging in the apartment you should stop wearing red shirts, its only makes them angry.
There was a phrase for this when I was young.
You want to have your cake and eat it too.
You want to have an EV, and you want to live in an apartment block that has no provision for charging it, but don't want to waste interminable hours at public charging facilities.
Choose one or the other.
I sympathise with you, its what a lot of people are going to want to do as the number of people who own EVs increases. A lot of apartment owners are not going to be happy that its going to cost them a very large amount of money to upgrade their apartment so they can live in it and own an EV, or rent to someone else who does and expects to be able to.
First one occupier will want it, and they'll say yes. Then more will. But long before every car spaces gets wired the electricians will say they can't do any more without a major expensive electrical upgrade, which will have to be matched by the electrical authority doing the same.
My advice, is hold off until the infrastructure gets better. There are so many D%$kh$@ds parking in EV parking zones, to make a point. These are the same morons that park in disabled zones etc. Until they start getting fined heavilly like I raised in a previous post, you might be in for a struggle until people stop being selfious, inconsiderate censored twats.
Companies like the fuel companies need to embrace this, as well as McDonalds, Bunnings, Costco, Aldi and allow council to enforce parking regulations in private car parks. Places like this are usually good for someone that spends 30-60mins shopping while they charge.
I spoke to a council worker today, and advised that there is some antognism towards directed to EV parking spots being close to some shopping centre entrances, but they said this is dictated by the cost of how close the charger is to Major electricity supply due to faster charging requirements.
Tesla owner. Great car. Wouldn’t buy if I couldn’t have charged at home.
Fast charging does wear down the battery a bit, but the major reason is it’s a pain in the ass waiting for charging. When it’s at home it doesn’t matter, or occasionally on a road trip, but to depend on it every time would get old fast.
If you can’t use a 240v 10amp PowerPoint near your EV in the apartment garage you are better off with hybrid (or move).
Definition of constantly on the road about 150klms a day? Thats not constantly im certainly not constant and i can do between a 100 and 600 in a day.
Could be all inner city driving for uber so low k's but long hours.
As with all new technology, the early adopters rush in but now we see EV sales globally slowing from the huge growth of the past few years. I think hybrids are the way to go personally but everyone’s circumstances are different
Why are hybrids better? I'm not one of those EV evangelicals, in fact I can't stand EV (especially Tesla) fanbois but the savings are there to be had my man. We've saved circa $8K over 2 years just on charging vs petrol. Spent $0 on servicing where my previous services were ~$1200/year. I've never used a DC fast charger and we get 400km of range every day which is more than enough for our needs (20k km per year). As you said, everyone's circumstances are different but I'd wager that for the vast majority of people (98%?) that if they can charge at home, the range is more than enough so that they'll only need to use a fast charger on longer holiday trips. I've also saved tens of hours not having to divert off my optimal journey to fill up petrol then queue up to pay for it every week.
that for the vast majority of people (98%?) that if they can charge at home
The OP specifically mentioned not living in a house.
A driving very frequently.
The OP specifically mentioned not living in a house
I'm aware of that but @Dollar General shared a general opinion that hybrids were better (irrespective of the OP's situation) and I don't think that's the case.
As LFO mentioned, it’s the upfront investment in home charging that will make hybrids more appealing. There are many areas inner city were people cannot park on their property and only street parking is possible.
In this scenario where the OP might have a hard time installing a home charger, I agree with you… If you can't charge at home, the benefit of an EV evaporates rapidly and it becomes a hinderance (forced to use public chargers) more than anything else.
In this scenario where the OP might have a hard time installing a home charger, I agree with you… If you can't charge at home, the benefit of an EV evaporates rapidly and it becomes a hinderance (forced to use public chargers) more than anything else.
Then, in that case, wouldn't a hybrid be the better option in that scenario?
Thanks guys
Some very helpful comments in there.
Was just wondering how people in US are managing this specially in places like New York or LA as everyone almost live in appartments there.
The EV population is huge there.
If anyone have friends who shared their experiences.
people in New York rarely drive and even rarer distances of 150km a day. To be brutally honest you actually sound like a use case for ICE as you are going to really struggle with a EV driving that distance daily without a home charger.
people in New York rarely drive
If you mean the city (Manhattan island) then only about 20% of people own a car
Look up the recent YouTube video by Carexpert on people lining up for chargers in America
The carexpert video is one Aussie's expereicne over a few days. It could be nornal, or there coud have been circumstances that meant this was unusual.
No one in Manhattan drives, much less owns a car. As for L.A., it's much lower density and Teslas are called 'California Camrys' for a reason: they're everywhere.
I don't follow EV news. My guess about Los Angeles is because Telsla is located in the same state, California. California would have been the first place in the world to rollout Tesla's fast charging network. So LA would have had the longer time to grow the number of fast chargers.
Tesla is a US company and the Federal + State governments would have given them huge tax payer subsidies, grants, tax concessions. Compare that to our Australian government who'd view Tesla as a foreign company so there is much less incentive to spend Australian tax payer dollar to prop up a foreign fast charging network.
strata might take a year or 2 even if it is authorized
your best bet is charging it at a shopping center near by, the real savings come when you can charge for free off solar
Duplicate post.
Rent in Meriton apartment new building, they have unlimited EV charging for $60/week. Once signed up, they will install the charger in your lot.
Sounds interesting, do they let outsiders use it as well or you need to be a residence.
Definitely have to be resident
What if I have an electric van that is also a mobile crypto mining rig?
$60 pw seems like a heck of a lot…. I spend far less than this on diesel
$60/week is astronomical for one car, even if it's a reserved charger. Moreso, if the owner only uses it for city driving (likely, if they live in a Meriton).
only $60/week !
sounds great when you are spending a lot more than that on petrol
suddenly not so great when you start driving less or not at all
whereupon $60/week becomes an expensive WOFTAM
I own my apartment, so I asked the strata company for permission to install a 240V 15A power point on the wall next to my car bay. After a bit of discussion, they agreed as long as it was connected to my own power meter. I got an electrician to install it, costing around $2500. Much better than public charging!
sounds like the way to go - I'm on several strata committees and any complex where the meter is say on the ground floor and the carspace is in the basement might be relatively simple - you'd want a security box on your carspace charger outlet so others don't steal your electricity
but yeah - somewhere between $2-10K to run an extension from your individual meter could be the go - in our case that could be anywhere from 5m to 100m up and down and around and across a garage ceiling with price varying accordingly - it could then become a marketing benefit for future sales or rental of the unit - 'includes EV charger outlet'
if you're happy to pay $10K to establish the connection - and possibly a special use strata by-law registered which might cost you another $1-2K
If you're driving 150km everyday and you do not have access to charging where you live or your end destinations, unfortunately your circumstances mean you are not ready to make the move to EV's yet. Yes you can still do it, but will have to sacrifice a lot of time and stress to make it work.
I do not have access to charging where I live, but I also only drive 200-300km a week so find it easier to use the chargers are the local shopping centre or supercharge once every 10 days.
Tesla is the only one I'd be looking at when you're ready due to their Supercharger network, battery management system and insane software capabilities.
If you drive that much you probably shouldn't get an EV if you don't have reliable constant access to a charging station
Usually you can pay to get it installed near your car park. It's not cheap and even though you paid for it, it will probably belong to the building too. But if you plan on living in the apartment which you own (?) for decades then you may as well. Having an EV charger near your car park which you own (?) will add value to your car park.
Get a bicycle
Get the EV first, eventually the charging stations will catch up and be everywhere like petrol stations now.
I’ve heard BYD charges faster and have better batteries than Tesla at a cheaper price
I’ve heard BYD charges faster
7kW AC on some models vs 11kW+ on all Tesla
70-80kW DC on Atto 3, 110-150kW DC on Seal vs 170kW min on Tesla.
Ofc you would charge faster on BYD because of their tiny batteries.
vs 11kW+ on all Tesla
Depends on the UMC you have.
The older version (Gen1) is capable of charging up to 11kW and the newer version (Gen2) is capable of charging up to 7kW.
vs 170kW min on Tesla.
Not when you stop at a V2 charging station.
This is simply not true.
BYD atto 3 has 50kw battery, extended range has 60kw
BYD seal has 61kw battery and extended has 82kw battery.
I don’t think we can consider these batteries tiny. They are very close in size to Tesla model 3 and model Y.
Also you can charge BYD to 100% every single time.
Usually in apartments, to install any EV charging including a power point / GPO , you will need approval from the bodycorp as it will be work on the common property. However, the approach of EVC strategy for strata should be a unified one as load management becomes critical in this scenario. Installing a shared charger can be another solution but will become troublesome to manage as EV adoption grows.
Unless the bodycorp agrees to any of the above, you are stuck with using public charging stations. Good luck!
just buy an ICE beater that has reasonable fuel economy for now, save the $$$ till you move to a new place or sort out the charger with your strata, not worth the hassle going with an EV under the current circumstances, to have constant mental burden isn't good way of life
Maybe your work has an EV charging station?
I go get Yaris cross it cheap and easier then ev and used
I'm on the committee for my OC, we have about 40 apartments in inner city Melbourne. So far nobody has an EV or asked about installing a charger etc. However I just know that when the time comes, just need to show them a few thermal runaway videos and it's very unlikely that it'll be allowed any time soon, despite the low risk of this actually occurring.
Speak to the strata manager.
We have an investment property in a unit complex and they have put some powerpoints into the carpark for people to use. They are also looking into the fast chargers and putting them in.
As an EV owner who lives in a house with solar panels, there is no way I would buy an EV if I lived in an apartment.
There is already some range anxiety even after a year of ownership, then you want to add charging anxiety on top of that? F that!
I know it's easier with a Landlord:Tenant situation, but you've got to try.
I don't live in an apartment, but the best way really is to go through the Body Corporate to socialise the idea of 7KW power points in the residential parking area, metered to the property assigned to the spot. Residents then use their own portable charging equipment to service their vehicles. Take it from there.
Home AC charging is much better for battery safety and lifespan than DC Fast Charging (DCFC). I have a Tesla UMC with a 7KW (240V 32A) tail, and that works better for me than it would have if I had a permanent charging unit installed.
In my scenario, I regularly drive from Newcastle to Brisbane and back. I limit my DCFC to these trips, and all domestic travel is home AC charging. All charging in the destination uses free public AC infrastructure.
Owner buys electric car, doesnt consider how to actually charger it. Fail.
Commenter, doesn't read the post properly. Fail.
Toyota hybrid would be a better bet at 4l/100k for you.
I'm in an apartment block just outside of the CBD and we have 2 dedicated EV charging spots in our complex
Just get a normal car will save you money in the long run.
Especially on insurance.
In your situation I would avoid buying an EV. The time you will waste at charging stations will drive you crazy. The cost at charging stations is ridiculous. I have a Tesla 3LR and charge at home overnight with 7kw. So basically 10% per hour. Wake up to full battery easy.
The cost at charging stations is ridiculous.
Ah, for those chargers at shopping malls, etc - you pay to charge it?
I always wondered who paid or if it was just free power like charging your mac at the library, etc.
I have an EV and live in apartment in the inner west. I would put the thought of charging in your apartment aside if I were you. Too costly and too bureaucratic. I charge every week or so at my local shopping centre and that keeps me going fine. It's not a big deal for me but I don't drive for work.
That being said, if you're set on getting an EV and want to rely on shopping centre charging, get one that supports 3-phase AC charging.
Either your home or work can allow charging is better, if you are close to a lot of free chargers is also workable. Trickle charging is also fine, just need an electrical outlet you can use, otherwise it is going to be a pain.
I would survey and gauge how many people want an ev in your building or plan to do so in the next 12 months. If it’s 10,20,30%… forget it.
The other owners are not going to pay for your choice in cars.
I certainly won’t be paying for a charging station that only you and a few others will be benefit.
That leads to charging at commercial places.
Get a BYD, I rented one from sixth for $55 a day using RACV discount. It took 2 youtube shorts to understand menu and button control. Good range and has a sun roof unlike most EVs I seen. Looks and feels like a SUV.
can't speak for tesla as I never driven one.
The Strata Management have all but ruled out the installation of any sort of EV charging in the garage area of the building I own a unit in. They said that most of the building insurers that they utilise are not issuing/approving policies if EV chargers (and EV charging is occurring) are installed in any enclosed environment. The existing building insurer also has said that if anyone attempts to perform EV charging or tries to get a charger installed un-approved, they'll terminate our existing insurance policy.
This should be a top comment.
Building Insurers no likey pluggy pluggy
This is going to be a huge problem, also I don't think many of these apartment blocks posters to are referring to have advised their insurers on installation of chargers. Fire risk is a higher problem and strata costs are going to go through the roof.
Appreciate that you think it should be a top comment (it won't be though lol). I also agree, I'd be very surprised if the people with EV chargers in unit blocks in their garages are declaring it to the building insurers. From the involvement I've had with my Strata & the owners corp, every company they approached about it said they wouldn't issue a policy if they were in place.
As an apartment occupier, you should really be owning more than 1 car if you have 1 car space, so you should get another petrol car and leave your electric car in the apartment space.
So then you can park the petrol car in the visitor carpark most times because most apartment dwellers don't have visitors at all, which means the visitor carparks always empty.
^ I said that in jest, in case some numbskulls actually think I think that is a logical solution. It's actually commentary on the numbskull apartment dwellers who own more cars than available parking spaces, making life difficult for everyone else.
Not sure what state the OP is in or how far away from a charger they are but some charging companies have subscription plans for example:
So much for the claim that high density living (and transit oriented development) eliminates the need for personal automobiles.
I am also interested in this. I would have thought most strata’s would be open to the idea and there would be other EV owners who would help pay for infrastructure. In practical terms if I was in your situation, I’d find the closest charger to me and charge each night. If that means popping out at 10pm for 40 minutes do that. Or if it means leaving 30 minutes earlier so you can get to a charger before your first meeting do that as well.
I feel like the “return” for installing your own charger is convenience rather than money. There are 7kw chargers near me that are free and $0.15/kwh which is less than my off peak electricity rate. So technically I’d lose money by charging at home. But it’s much more convenient