Apartment EV Charging

A Comprehensive Guide to EV Charging in Apartment/Strata Buildings.

Introduction

In Australia, 2.5M people, or 10.3% of the population, live in Apartments - with this number expected to increase. To achieve agreement to install genuine EV Charging options in Apartment Buildings can be a minefield of miss (and often misguided) information and opinions. Here, we try to simplify the process for you, as well as support your journey with our easy to follow step-by-step guide.

Step 1: Engagement Questionnaire

From all of the Apartment Buildings that we have engaged with over the years, our best recommended EV Charging solution, for your Building, will be greatly guided by your answers to the questions in our Engagement Questionnaire. Your responses of interest will cover:

Age of Building
Available Realistic Budget
Available Visitor Parking Bays
Building Body Corporate support and approvals
Carparking Layout
Current or future plans to install a Solar System
Known Electrical Capacity constraints
Long Term vs Short Term Residents
Number of EV already in the building
Residents Cooperativeness
Strata Management Company support and approvals

Engagement Questionnaire

Resources - Downloads

Documents that may assist you to seek approvals.

Strata Resident Approval Form

Step 2: Responding to the Detractors

With all new technological advances, there will always be skeptics and detractors. To support your initiative, to get as many Residents onboard as possible, here is some supporting material that will assist you to answer some of the 'concerns' that will inevitably be raised:

EV Fire Risk: Electric Vehicles pose a lesser fire risk to a building than a petrol or diesel vehicle. The team at EV Fire Safe are fire fighters that have been gathering evidence and presenting the facts to assist with education on EV fire risk.

EV Fire Safe

Building Compliance: Not that long ago, some Building Certifiers were reticent to sign off buildings containing EV Chargers and vehicles. As there was no real guidance as to what is an acceptable standard related to mitigating and managing the characteristics of an EV fire. That was until 2023 when the Australian Building Codes Board commissioned a report from EV Fire Safe to help guide the National Construction Code (NCC). Which provided the industry with an Advisory Note/Guide for the installation of EV Charging Stations in new Buildings. With good practice being to also follow the Guidelines when retrofitting into existing building as well.

ABCB Report

EV Install Advisory Note

Increased Insurance Premiums: Charge Hub are unaware of any strata insurer who has added exclusions to their policies for electric vehicles. Therefore, from an insurance perspective, there are currently no restrictions/compliance issues to justify raising premiums, or that you will need to raise with body corporates for storing electric vehicles on site or installing charging stations. We simply recommend that your complex follows all regulations, laws and manufacturer’s guidelines concerning charging stations, which Charge Hub will assist you with.

There won't be enough Electrical Capacity for everybody: This may be true, depending on initial uptake. However, there is a lot that we can achieve with the electrical capacity that is available, through EV Charging Software and Dynamic Load Management - such as ramping EV Charging up and down to fit in with the buildings needs, scheduling charging sessions etc. Our solutions could provide your Building with 5 to 10 years of trouble-free charging, before any serious electrical upgrades may be required.

Load Management

Step 3: Good Practice

The key 'Good Practice' takeaways from the NCC Advisory Note Guideline (that we feel should be considered in all EV Charging installations) are:

Master Isolation - Providing the ability for the Fire Department to power off all onsite EV Charging Stations, during an emergency callout - either manually from the Fire Panel or activated from the Fire Alarm. Additional good practice is to install a dedicated EV Distribution Electrical Switchboard (EVDB) for every 24 x Car Parking Bays. Which, if managed correctly, will form part of a holistic site solution that can easily be expanded as more and more Residents bring home their new EVs.
Updated Building Signage - To include the location of EV Charging Stations on site, emergency exits etc.
Compliance - EV Charging Stations certified in Australia, and installed by licensed Electricians to the AS/NZS 3000 Electrical Wiring Rules, AS61439 and all other applicable standards and rules.
Smart Charging - Remote connection and support (via Charge Hub software), with proactive regular maintenance and fault intervention.
Collision Protection - More emphasis on installed position of the EV Charging Stations, with consideration to the use of vehicle impact bollards and wheel stops.

Step 4: The ideal EV Charging Station

Not all EV Charging Stations are created equal. Some Stations out perform other in certain applications than others, such as in Strata/Apartment. A good majority of currently available Stations should be avoided, for Apartments. Here are the key features required for an EV Charging Station suitable for Apartment applications:

Australian registered compliance, including EESS and ACMA.
Requirements to meet Residential Consumer Guarantees.
Quality manufacturer, with great local after sales support
Features - OCPP; RFID Reader; Tethered and Socket options; Type 2; Single phase and Three phase options; Ethernet, Wi-Fi and 4G connectivity; Modbus port for localized load management.

Several decisions will determine whether a particular Station is more suited to your application, or alternatively you could consider a mix of various OEM Stations. These decisions include:

Billing / Payment for Use: There are various options available to you here, including pay-as-you-go via the Charge Hub App, monthly ledger billing by Building Management, Embedded Network billing from a kWh meter read or ledger, or a standalone credit card enabled Station. Each option comes with its own ongoing costs and hassle factor. With the Charge Hub App option being the most commonly preferred.
Load Management - OEM Load Management systems, such as the Ecostruxure from Schneider, offer great features, with advantages of zero ongoing subscription costs. However, this system will limit your site to EV Stations from only that same manufacturer. Which you may prefer. Or, the alternative is to install the Charge Hub FLEX Dynamic Load Management device, which will work with any OCPP compliant EV Charging Station. Providing you (and your Residents) with the flexibility to chose.

Step 5: Project Funding

Several options may be available to assist your Strata with funding your infrastructure project, if required, including:

Local Government Grants or Subsides - e.g., see here for the NSW Building Ready Grant
Green Loans

Once we get to this point, together, we will make you aware of what support may be available, if required.

Step 6: Strata Bylaws

The final section is up to your Body Corporate, to include your chosen Building EV Charging solution into your Bylaws. Thus ensuring that any Resident wanting to install an EV Charging Station any time in the future, knows the agreed and pre authorised approach, and connects to the same Load Management and Billing platform. We can certainly assist here with examples.