Iowa Condo Charging

[JPT]

Hello fellow members. I live in a 10 story condo and many of us have electric cars. I am looking for charging options where any EV can charge but still have to have an app and pay for their own power. Not for public use. I have looked at ChargePoint so far. Any other suggestions?

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[generaltso]

In my opinion, a ChargePoint CT4000 is the best solution for that. We just added a second one at my office, which gives us 4 plugs.

 

[ChehRob]

I am on the EV charging committee in our condo. I'd be happy to fill you in on what we are and have done. Ironically in the midst of our efforts the State passed a law requiring that condos make charging available, but it also made our job more difficult as the law was poorly written, and we had to make od changes mid stream.

 

[Space_Pony]

Hello fellow members. I live in a 10 story condo and many of us have electric cars. I am looking for charging options where any EV can charge but still have to have an app and pay for their own power. Not for public use. I have looked at ChargePoint so far. Any other suggestions?

I have an Autel Maxicharger that has an option for RFID card use for restricted use.

Optional RFID for Added Security
Your safety and security are always our highest priorities. With our optional RFID activation and Smartphone app, you can enable card access to prevent unauthorized use and keep your charger secure.

 

[JPT]

I am on the EV charging committee in our condo. I'd be happy to fill you in on what we are and have done. Ironically in the midst of our efforts the State passed a law requiring that condos make charging available, but it also made our job more difficult as the law was poorly written, and we had to make od changes mid stream.

I would be curious if you have a cost benefit type comparison of all the options for sure!

 

[ChehRob]

Our good luck is that we have a really top notch power supply. According to the contractor our electric utility room is one step above standard 3 phase 440 (I'm not sure what that means exactly). We have enough power for all 80 units to have one 40 amp hook up. Unfortunately given highrise electrical codes, we cannot hook up each unit to its own parking space. Which means that we cannot use unit meter to supply each charger. Hence:

We need a parallel system of supply and metering. The infrastructure wiring will need to go from the electric utility room to each floor of the parking garage. That goes under the name of condo infrastructure and will cost a bit less than a $1000 per unit. The condo HOA will supply all of the electricity to the parking floors, and most of the wiring to each charger.

Metering: we had our choice of two systems, in each case it requires wifi to communicate with the system, which keeps track of how much power each unit charger uses, and passes that information onto the HOA, as well as bills each of us.

Installing the wifi alone will cost about $6000 for each parking level. It and all of the wiring need to be in conduit and meet codes for high rise buildings. The total cost per unit comes close to $6000, with about $1500, maybe a little more, reimbursed by federal subsidies. This, obviously is between 2 and 3 times the cost of installing in a single residence house, as one of my kids has already done.

Our Seattle property managing company has recommended them, and confirmed their prices are competitive, and that they do good work.

The system will automatically throttle down amperage should too many people recharge at the same time, but statistics indicate that this will seldom happen. Also we have set things up so that those who do not sign up now will not incur any charges. Only those who use the system will have to pay for installation and maintenance.

The wifi will be generally available to all residents, and a great safety feature. We had someone fall and break a hip and not able to call out for assistance, fortunately not too worse for the event.

 

[TheVirtualTim]

A friend of mine has EV charging in his condo. They use ChargePoint.

The chargers are available to residents and guests but residents and guests need their own ChargePoint account.

What I found interesting about their setup ... is that they put all the chargers in the valet area. If you want your car charged, you ask the valet to park it into an EV charging space. They can connect the car for your (and if you leave your ChargePoint RFID card, they'll activate the charging ... or you can start the charge yourself).

But one nice thing about them being in the valet area is that they'll move your car out of the charging stall when the car is fully charged to make the space available for the next person who needs a charge.

 

[ChasingCoral]

Hello fellow members. I live in a 10 story condo and many of us have electric cars. I am looking for charging options where any EV can charge but still have to have an app and pay for their own power. Not for public use. I have looked at ChargePoint so far. Any other suggestions?

Did you check out the advice in this thread?
https://www.macheforum.com/site/thr...anage-communal-charger-at-a-condo-bldg.30235/

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