11589 replies to this topic

[LeoVictoria]

[LeoVictoria]

The first big problem with putting chargers in a strata is convenience. A level 2 charger will charge an empty 200 kilometer range car in just under 5 hours. If there isn't much demand for a charger then there tends not to be much of a fuss. If the charger is in use you'll have to park somewhere else, then return again to plug the car in, then return again to be nice and free up the charger for someone else. If you have your EV in the stall at 6PM, not fully charged until 10 or 11PM, are you going to go move your car out of the stall in case someone else wants to use it?

 

Having a parking stall with a charger is very convenient, but the cost of installing a charger any distance away from the electrical vault can be extremely expensive.

 

The second problem, mentioned in the article, is that the in many stratas once a stall has been allocated there is no obligation for the owner to every give it up. If the stall happens to be close to the electrical vault, or is convenient and cheap to install a charger, the stall becomes an asset for the owner and they are less likely to give it up.

 

Part of the issue for new buildings lies with developers. I have suggested that developers write a clause in the initial contract that specifies "designated future EV stalls" and requires owners to switch to other stalls should the stall be needed as an EV stall. I'd even go a step further and designate "EV overflow stalls" very nearby, so that there is a convenient place for EV owners to park their car to wait, or for charged cars to move to to free up a charging space.

 

Some things to make this easier such as intelligent chargers with multiple heads that can allocate power to those cars that need it most in mulitple stalls.   Hard to tell whether a huge condo retrofit will be justified or if autonomous cars and/or longer ranges with faster charging will make it a thing of the past anyway.   If you have a 500km range and can recharge as a "electric station" in 10 minutes you don't need a charger at home.

[lanforod]

The first big problem with putting chargers in a strata is convenience. A level 2 charger will charge an empty 200 kilometer range car in just under 5 hours. If there isn't much demand for a charger then there tends not to be much of a fuss. If the charger is in use you'll have to park somewhere else, then return again to plug the car in, then return again to be nice and free up the charger for someone else. If you have your EV in the stall at 6PM, not fully charged until 10 or 11PM, are you going to go move your car out of the stall in case someone else wants to use it?

 

Having a parking stall with a charger is very convenient, but the cost of installing a charger any distance away from the electrical vault can be extremely expensive.

 

The second problem, mentioned in the article, is that the in many stratas once a stall has been allocated there is no obligation for the owner to every give it up. If the stall happens to be close to the electrical vault, or is convenient and cheap to install a charger, the stall becomes an asset for the owner and they are less likely to give it up.

 

Part of the issue for new buildings lies with developers. I have suggested that developers write a clause in the initial contract that specifies "designated future EV stalls" and requires owners to switch to other stalls should the stall be needed as an EV stall. I'd even go a step further and designate "EV overflow stalls" very nearby, so that there is a convenient place for EV owners to park their car to wait, or for charged cars to move to to free up a charging space.

 

I don't see why for new buildings, all parking spots can't be mandated to have all necessary wiring in place, and enough space in the electrical room for any other needed hardware. If that isn't in the plans to be added to the building code, it should be.

[sebberry]

I wonder what sort of additions to the electrical service would be required if the building code was to mandate a 32A Level 2 charger in each of the 100 parking spots a typical mid-rise might have. 

[manuel]

Not nearly as much as you might think. Automate and sequence the timing of charges between cars and a max 100 car charge for 5 hours each at the same time quickly becomes 50 considering 1/2 will go nowhere in a day, then run sequences of charges from 5 pm when the first cars get back to 9 am when the last leave. The first two sequences can cover 10 cars each with nearly full drains for 4 hrs each on average. 20 cars, 8 hours, load of 10 cars. This is done by 1 am. 15 cars with 50 percent charge can be done in 2.5 hours each, or 10 by 6 am. The remainder are done by 9. The math here isn't quite right, but you get the picture.

Logic and multiple charge heads are our friends.

that and very few people drive a car to empty every day. We average 15 km total on weekdays, more on weekends. If we had 350 km range, only would need to connect once per week. A lot of condo owners would be in the same boat.

Edited by manuel, 26 May 2017 - 10:51 PM.

[On the Level]

Most of our phones at home are wirelessly charged now.  Never know what is planned for next year.  You could have a pad under parking stalls or a magnetic pad to attach to a section of the car with a monitoring system that limits the power to what the service / strata can allow.

[MarkoJ]

I wonder what sort of additions to the electrical service would be required if the building code was to mandate a 32A Level 2 charger in each of the 100 parking spots a typical mid-rise might have. 

 

Given how many cars I see during the day sitting in parkades I don't think more than 30-40% of the cars would be charging at night? Out of that 30-40% I would bet that more than 90% would need less than 100 km of charge so less than 2.5-3 hours.  Out of a 100 parking spots you may need 2 or 3 cars that need more than 5 hours of charging every night. Basically I don't think you would see a load of 50 cars charging at once in 100 parking spots equipped with chargers.

[LeoVictoria]

Average Canadian drives 15,000km/year or 41km/day.
At electric car efficiency and some charging losses that is about 7kW/day.

100 cars in a hypothetical building so that's 700kW to disperse, mostly overnight, say over about 12 hours or 58kW/hour.

That's about 260A at 220V to charge the buildings cars overnight.

I'll let the electricians calculate whether that load would require changes in the service to the building or whatever

[phx]

Other electric loads are going to be at their lightest overnight, so capacity might not be a problem.  I suppose a large building might have a charging controller that rations out the available kilowatts so as to avoid an overload.

 

That's about 260A at 220V to charge the buildings cars overnight.

 

[sebberry]

Until TOU billing forces everyone to do laundry at midnight!

[LeoVictoria]

Until TOU billing forces everyone to do laundry at midnight!

TOU doesn't really make sense with Hydro. Peak loads are not an issue as much as with coal or nuclear that can't react to demand changes quickly

[rjag]

https://www.facebook...54994336312949/

Alphabets Waymo could be valued at $70Billion

[On the Level]

Volvo to go electric and hybrid only starting in 2019

 

http://www.cbc.ca/ne...-2019-1.4190649

[DavidSchell]

France to Ban Fossil Fuel Vehicles by 2040

 

https://techvibes.co...campaign=buffer

[VicHockeyFan]

Tomorrow on Oak Bay Ave at the car show actually on Elgin, the electric car club people will have a display of cars.

[LJ]

Tesla delivered their first model 3 to customers today.

[G-Man]

Check this new one out: http://bollingermotors.com/new_site/

[VicHockeyFan]

Check this new one out: http://bollingermotors.com/new_site/

 

That's pretty cool.  I like how it's very basic.  But can't help think Jeep will just one-up them with an electric model(s) soon.

[Szeven]

The Model 3 release really has me excited. I look forward to seeing one in person.  If the car is less than 60k CAD in my driveway I'll sell the Honda Fit we have and buy one as the non-dogmobile. I still think they are too expensive, but it has potential to be 'worth it'.

[spanky123]

The Model 3 release really has me excited. I look forward to seeing one in person.  If the car is less than 60k CAD in my driveway I'll sell the Honda Fit we have and buy one as the non-dogmobile. I still think they are too expensive, but it has potential to be 'worth it'.

 

You could probably do that price with their entry level model 3 but my guess is that fully loaded they will probably come in around $85K to $95K after currency exchange and duties