Calling all Residence Bel-Air owners who want a charger installed

[Chargers4Bel-Air]

Hi all,

I live in Residence Bel-Air Phase II and I am hoping to get a Tesla charger installed at my parking space. I have been in contact with the Bel-Air Service Centre which emailed me to say that it is feasible to install an EV charger at my parking space and they have outlined the steps in order to complete a successful application. Mr. Szeto is the main contact for EV charger applications at the Service Centre.

The problem is I just got my first quotation from one of the contractors recommended by Tesla and the cost is astronomical - $79K in total!

The breakdown is $21,400 for "before meter" installation work and $57,600 for "after meter" work.
Please the image below for reference. I am expecting 2 other quotations in the next week.

I spoke with Mr. Szeto about the "insane" cost and he said one way to bring down some of the cost is to share the cost of the installation work and hardware in the main switch room with other owners who want to install an EV charger. (EV Power told me they are looking to do this.) Perhaps the cost of some of the cable runs/work can be shared as well? I guess it depends where the parking spaces are and where the closest power source is. It somehow seems the power source is only on CP2. My parking space is on CP1.

With this post, I hope to make contact with the other 9 or so Bel-Air owners so we can work together to coordinate with the Bel-Air Service Centre and the installation contractors and perhaps the electric company to figure out the best way to bring down the cost of installing EV chargers at Bel-Air Phase I/II parking lot.

I recognise that the cost of the installation depends largely on how long the cable from the power source to the parking space is but I hope that for most Bel-Air owners, the cost can somehow be brought down to around $20-25K.

So calling all Bel-Air owners wanting to get a charger installed… Let's discuss here and perhaps meet up to come up with ideas and a plan.

Should we all coordinate with just one of the electrical contractors (EV Power, Shun Hing, Chong Chi, etc) to get the best deal?
Can we get them to bid on the work for installation of 10 or more chargers?
Should we all wait until we hit a critical number of people who want an EV charger to have better bargaining power?
Should we have Service Centre release the floor plans of the CP1, CP2, CP3 parking lots and identify all the power sources so we can make sure the costs quoted to us make sense?

Thoughts? Let's connect!

 

[SamT]

BTW, that's Hong Kong dollars, but it is still insane. In today's rate that would be $79,000/7.75, that's more that US $10,000 to install a charger.

 

[Chargers4Bel-Air]

Yep, that's right, SamT - currency is Hong Kong dollars (HK$) and that's equivalent to over US$10K to install a charger.
This is a large luxury estate with over 1500 apartments just in Phase I and II, but still... US$10K to install a charger is crazy.
I do note that my quote shows 120 meters of cable from the main switch room (CP2) to my parking space (CP1) which is one level down.
I do hope that the quotations I expect to get next week are more reasonable. We'll see...
Thanks!

 

[DITB]

Isn't there a supercharger just 5 minutes drive from there?

53,600 HKD just for the installation of the charger itself? That's insane! It's a few bolts to hold the wall charger, and a few cables attached.

It's almost 7,000 USD, to hang a charger on a wall and connect it!

You must look like someone very rich, since they give you that quote.

 

[Lerxt]

That's insane alright. It's a $3000 job, max.

 

[3fiftynine]

From my experience with these companies (I have their quotes, exactly the same 3 companies for my place) they all assumed the wrong thing (or the right thing from their perspective). You see the "before meter" scope is not just "for you" it's for 100A supply and you need 32A single phase. If you pay this price, and you are the first one, they'll earn more when 2nd or 3rd customers ask them to do the same. Note that "10 sets, 5 sets" in their quotation and challenge them why you have to subsidize their future customers (or neighbors you don't know)!

 

[markwj]

53,600 HKD just for the installation of the charger itself? That's insane! It's a few bolts to hold the wall charger, and a few cables attached.

It's almost 7,000 USD, to hang a charger on a wall and connect it!

That's insane alright. It's a $3000 job, max.

That line of the quote is really not well written. What they mean is "run all the cabling and install the Tesla wall connector" rather than just screw it on the wall and connect the cable.

From the quote details, it seems that the after meter work involves 25metres of cable through the electrical rooms in the public area, then another 120metres of cable through the car park, and having to break through (and repair/fill/paint afterwards) 5 walls.

Really not surprised this is HK$57k. The OP is correct - finding other owners in the same area of the car park would be the best way to share costs.

 

[Chargers4Bel-Air]

Thanks all for the feedback.

Thanks, Mark, for the interpretation of the quote details. Makes sense but I really want to find out where are the power sources are so that I can be sure the source that is 120M from my parking space (and on a different level) is really the closest. The parking lot here is massive and from what I've been hearing, it seems the estate management wants the power source to be from just 1 switch room on level CP2 (middle level). I'm just speculating but I think estate management might just want to make administration easier for themselves, having to monitor only 1 power source for all private EV chargers, but at the incredible expense of owners who have to run very long lengths of cable and through many walls. I think the next step for me will be to talk to the (recently elected) Owner's Committee Car Park representative to see what ideas he has, if any, for EV charger installations.

Thanks again, all.

 

[Chargers4Bel-Air]

Isn't there a supercharger just 5 minutes drive from there?

Yes, there are 6 Tesla Superchargers at Cyberport which is very close to here so I will use that if the cost doesn't come down to a reasonable level. Ideally of course I'd want the charger right at my parking space. I am very thankful that the Superchargers are so close to my home, of course.

Like all of us here, probably, I wish the estate management companies would support EV owners better to really drive forward the green movement in HK. We have a long way to reach critical mass of EVs on the road to reduce roadside pollution but we have start somewhere and certainly could use more support from the estate management companies. Since almost everyone in HK lives in apartments (who can afford a house here?!), this is a real challenge for nearly all Tesla owners in HK.

 

[DITB]

I heard in the Whatsapp group we have that there is already one installation in Bel-Air. I hope you could get together and discuss it. I don't know the details there but am thinking if there is any way it could be shared? Imagine one charger that reaches two parking spots, and two owners somehow could agree to share it. You don't need the charger every night I think ...

 

[Chargers4Bel-Air]

I heard in the Whatsapp group we have that there is already one installation in Bel-Air. I hope you could get together and discuss it. I don't know the details there but am thinking if there is any way it could be shared? Imagine one charger that reaches two parking spots, and two owners somehow could agree to share it. You don't need the charger every night I think ...

Hi DITB,
Many thanks for your the helpful info and good idea. I'd like to get put on the WhatsApp group but read somewhere else that it was full and only the LINE group had openings. Cheers!

 

[lx3h]

Hi DITB,
Many thanks for your the helpful info and good idea. I'd like to get put on the WhatsApp group but read somewhere else that it was full and only the LINE group had openings. Cheers!

Yes, this is true. Install LINE and PM me with your LINE ID if you wanna join.

Alternatively, DITB can contact the Bel-Air person on WhatsApp and ask him to discuss here.

 

[Chargers4Bel-Air]

Yes, this is true. Install LINE and PM me with your LINE ID if you wanna join.

Alternatively, DITB can contact the Bel-Air person on WhatsApp and ask him to discuss here.

Many thanks, lx3h. Will do!

Here below is the 2nd quotation I just received.
It's HK$17,500 less than the one from the first contractor. Better, but at HK$61,500 including a secure SS cabinet, I feel it's still very expensive.
Thoughts? Thanks!

 

[DITB]

Yes, this is true. Install LINE and PM me with your LINE ID if you wanna join.

Alternatively, DITB can contact the Bel-Air person on WhatsApp and ask him to discuss here.

I already pointed it out to him, so since there is no more room in the group, I hope you can get in contact.

Chargers4Bel-Air , you are welcome to send me your email or phone number in PM here, and I will forward this to him, or any other details you like.

 

[Chargers4Bel-Air]

I already pointed it out to him, so since there is no more room in the group, I hope you can get in contact.

Chargers4Bel-Air , you are welcome to send me your email or phone number in PM here, and I will forward this to him, or any other details you like.

@lx3h, thank you so much for adding me to the LINE group!

@DITB, many thanks for your kind offer. I will PM you my contact info.

Cheers, guys!

 

[WA-T3sla]

Your quotes are for install of a 40A breaker/cable etc. If you dont do a lot of driving maybe consider getting a price for wiring to 13A. This would charge your car overnight at about 10km/hr. You still have a supercharger down the road for bigger charges.

 

[DITB]

@lx3h, thank you so much for adding me to the LINE group!

@DITB, many thanks for your kind offer. I will PM you my contact info.

Cheers, guys!

Most welcome, hope it works out for you.

Whatever the outcome, please do come back and post more, for others to learn. It can be quite a battle financially, or even to get one at all, so we need to share our experiences.

 

[shiadawg]

Hi. Are you guys using EV Power? Originally, I was going to run a cable from my apartment in my building (from 2nd floor) and that would have cost me $40K. However, my building was quite accommodating and actually decided to make the entire car park EV friendly and the building paid for the cable to run around the 2 floors of the car park. Now my cost to connect into the main power is only HK$11K. EV power helped me with this.

 

[Chargers4Bel-Air]

Most welcome, hope it works out for you.

Whatever the outcome, please do come back and post more, for others to learn. It can be quite a battle financially, or even to get one at all, so we need to share our experiences.

@DITB, I will definitely do so and thanks for your very kind support!

Hi. Are you guys using EV Power? Originally, I was going to run a cable from my apartment in my building (from 2nd floor) and that would have cost me $40K. However, my building was quite accommodating and actually decided to make the entire car park EV friendly and the building paid for the cable to run around the 2 floors of the car park. Now my cost to connect into the main power is only HK$11K. EV power helped me with this.

@shiadawg, I have requested the Bel-Air Service Centre to coordinate with the other Phase I/II 2-3 applicants to share some of the cost and I believe (I hope) they are coordinating with EV Power. Individually, I also asked EV Power for a quotation and have been waiting a few weeks for Shadow to get back to me. Shadow/EV Power did mention to me over the phone that she would try to lower the cost by having some of the cost shared with the other Bel-Air applicants. So I am hoping for a reduction in cost due to some sharing of infrastructure cost but sadly I don't think Bel-Air is/will be as accommodating or EV friendly, despite their supporting many other green initiatives. For me, the cost is high because the power source is far from my parking space so I'm looking at 110m of cable run. Congrats on getting your charger installed for such a reasonable cost! And thanks for sharing your experience.

Thanks both for your feedback!

 

[hezzahez]

Hi there,

I am also looking at getting a charger installed in bel-air. Situated in Phase 1, near the entrance to tower 6. I would be looking to install my second, high power charger which Tesla Are providing me with at the end of this year. However I do want to take advantage of a group buy to save any installation costs. If this does go ahead and you require more people I would be happy to join in and have them run the cable/isolation box to my spot, and I will have the charger itself installed later when it arrives! (This is the easy part anyway)