How To Overcome The Challenges Of Strata EV Charging

Are you considering getting an EV but are overwhelmed by the challenges of strata charging? Fear not! Here’s how to overcome each challenge…

Challenge #1: Convince The Body Corporate You Won’t Burn The Place Down

The real challenge can lie in the fixed or fearful mindsets of decision-makers within your strata committee.

Sadly, cultivated conflict, clickbait, sensationalism, and not-so-funny memes often prevail in today’s social media scene. But the disinformation and shock jocks are being called out more often.

If your neighbours are the kind who read newspaper, or listen to a wireless, then you may have to gently educate them on the risks associated with EVs in our digital world. For example, the 120 EV fires reported in the same year 10 million EVs were sold, or that an ICE car is 20 to 100 times more likely to catch fire than an EV. So, whilst nothing is 100% safe, the more EVs you have in the parking garage, the less likely you are to have a fire down there.

For those needing help dispelling myths about safety, I’ve gathered some reference material you can click on here to help explain to the sceptics.

Ironically, even though horses aren’t an essential part of transport anymore, even today, haystack fires can be as difficult to manage as battery fires.

One of the country’s largest agricultural insurers, WFI Insurance, says it has paid out $8 million in claims for haystack fires in the past five years. image credit ABC Rural

Challenge #2: Rating Your Installation’s Max Power Demand (kW)

This is where it gets interesting because whether it’s a single house or a high rise, the whole installation will be designed with a Maximum Demand Calculation. There are standards dictating how big the cables and supply infrastructure must be for the appliances, lights, and power points you have.

For example, a domestic house with twenty 10amp power points can be allowed only 10amps total in the supply calculation, while cooktops rated at 40amps peak will be deemed a 20amp calculated load. Again, the rules are different for multi-dwelling and industrial buildings.

The logic goes that your phone charger uses next to nothing, you only own one 8.5amp/2kW blow heater, and the stove isn’t used for hours on end with every hotplate maintaining a rolling boil. In other words, there is diversity in these loads.

So many electricians forget this knowledge nugget.

However, a storage hot water service is a different matter. It could run for 4 hours straight, so it’s calculated at full connected load. Your average 3.6kW hot water tank uses 15amps, and this is the kicker: a single-phase car charger is generally 7kW, so it uses twice the current for twice as many hours.

The upshot is that car chargers could be assessed as 100, 90, or 75% of the sticker rating, depending on the number of units in your block. It’s a significant amount of power, something the troglodytes have been clutching their pearls about for a while now.

There are off-the-shelf answers, though, and the concept of sharing the available power and reducing peak demand isn’t new. Grid operators have been dealing with it for years and are preparing for yet more as we electrify transport.

A Maximum Demand Calculation is not a DIY task, but it’s one of the first things a good installer will do, as it informs every other aspect of the design from cable upgrades to hardware selection.

Challenge #3: Converting Existing Power Sockets Cheaply

If installing proper, 7kW hard-wired EV Chargers is out of the question right now, but you already have some regular sockets in your parking area, I have some good news.

I have been charging EVs for years, using nothing more than a standard 10amp power point.  You can use existing infrastructure and satisfy the bean counters with Alchemy Charge. By scanning a QR code & plugging in, the energy will be billed back to you. Portable 2kW Type 1 EV chargers will give you 10 – 15km range for every hour plugged in, which is enough for most people most of the time.

I wish I’d thought of this idea

It’s a shame that some car park operators are so short-sighted that they disable GPOs like this instead of looking to a solution like Alchemy Charge.

Challenge #4: Installing Proper EV Charging

Tesla’s hard-wired EV charger (AKA the Tesla Wall Connector) is popular, reliable and relatively cheap. Unfortunately, they aren’t very smart unless they are charging a Tesla car¹ so I’d recommend looking to another hardware vendor for your EV charging stations.

Depending on the body corporate’s stance, your options may include wall-mounted or pillar-type charging stations. While tethered leads offer convenience, asking your residents to bring their own cable could avoid damage and ensure they are long enough to reach each car’s charging socket no matter how they like to park.

Smart, hard-wired chargers can connect directly to the communal switchboard without needing extensive wiring to each apartment’s meter. Activation is straightforward via an RFID card or a smartphone app, and energy usage is conveniently added to your personal bill.

When installing new circuits, it’s essential to consider how many chargers the infrastructure can support (see Challenge #2). Fortunately, the charging systems are designed to manage the building’s maximum power demand, ramping down the charge rate of all the chargers in real-time to ensure they don’t overwhelm the main supply.  Solar power can supplement charging during the day, while nighttime might mean slower charging if many cars need power concurrently.

To compare the features and prices of different wall chargers available in Australia, have a look at our EV charger comparison table.

Challenge #5: Network Requirements

You’ll need connection approval from the local DNSP (the poles and wires people), and they will likely require an internet connection for what they call DRM or Demand Response Management. This is a fairly new space, but for instance, South Australia ran a trial in 2023 where they paid 30 cents per day to occasionally control your car charger and learn how you use it.

image credit: SAPN

Ronald is currently researching network requirements for each DNSP – watch this space.

Getting It Done

In the future, chargers will be bidirectional. You’ll pick up energy for cheap during peak sun hours when parked at work, drive home, then siphon that energy off, lowering your bill when peak prices hit in the evening. It’s a transformative approach to energy consumption and cost savings, but it’s not something you should wait for.

Strata EV charging technology is ready to go.

It’s a reality waiting for you to make the first move. Of course, SolarQuotes is here to connect you with expert installers who can tailor an EV charging solution to fit your specific needs.