Quote:
Originally Posted by Peter Ward
It also beggars belief that as many city dwellers are being moved into high density towers, body corporates frequently refuse owners permission to install...at their own expense ..a garage charger! 
Yet State legislators do not have the gonads to invoke laws that would such
asinine refusals illegal. To quote Lennon (John) "Strange days indeed" |
Hi Peter,
Interesting thread. I drive a hybrid, my wife drives an EV. We also have a holiday unit and charge my wife's EV there with the granny charger.
The issues around garage chargers aren't straightforward. Apartment building haven't been constructed with appropriate electrical infrastructure to support multiple chargers drawing up to 11kW. If an early adopter installs a charger in their car space, it might rule out any one else installing a charger in their car space. The body corporate has to manage this conundrum - potentially budgeting for a major electrical infrastructure upgrade to the unit complex for which all owners will have to contribute through the sinking fund.
We are lucky that the powerpoint in our garage is connected to our unit's meter, so we're paying for our own EV recharging. If the electricity in a common garage area is paid for by the body corporate, it's not fair on other owners to be paying for an EV owners recharging - its not like there's always been a free petrol pump in the garage for ICE owners.
I understand that it is a challenge for apartment dwellers to charge their EVs, but they've got to accept that it's not going to be a quick, or cheap, fix. Another conundrum is how will charging infrastructure on the highways ever be able to cope with periods of peak demand like the Easter long weekend - it's going to take time to sort that out, but eventually we will get there.
I'm an itinerant worker and have seen many EV owner plugging their personal cars into random power points in parking garages. There have been emails sent about circuits being overloaded and tripping (as well as trip hazards from extension leads). Again the electrical infrastructure in the parking garage was never designed to handle the load that is now being imposed. Ultimately it's theft. All of the people doing this are earning good coin and my sarcastic mind often contemplates offering them a fiver to help fill their tank!
Just my 2 cents worth.
DT