Charger at Condo

[Blu Zap]

Well, a Level 2 charger will need all night charging. Since you are outdoors, I suggest the Tesla car cover for around $400 or the EVannex cover for under $200.
Not sure what they will charge for the KWs. But I just moved from having a garage charger to an apartment with no charger. Living on SCs and HPWCs. In NorCal they are around.

 

[crikescrikes]

ok here is the short story.
I got a Tesla charger when I bought my car 3 years ago. the board approved my installation even before I got my car.
there is a 5 story parking structure (I park on the 4th floor) for my recently built condo.
the only electrical for the parking garage is lighting and 110V plugs (common use) with a small electrical room on each floor.
(all power that comes into the building runs through a large panel in the ground floor electrical room.)
a SolarCity electrician and one from another company came to do a site survey. they monitored all possible power sources for an EV charger for 48 hours.
the only circuit that had enough available power was the pool circuit. that was obviously not going to happen.
the electrical capacity for the entire building was designed around the living units and there was no requirement for EVs when the building was designed.
to safely upgrade the electrical capacity of a 5 story parking structure for X number of EVs (not just mine) needs a new feed and transformer as recommended by HECO, Solar City and the other electric company I spoke with.
the building has also said they wanted to install public chargers (probably not free) for the commercial units as well.

Did Solar City do a site survey for PV panels above the 5th level? Paired with Tesla's commercial batteries could it help solve the problem? Did you check into all the available tax credits for the panels and charger installations to help make it financially feasible?
What about electricians willing to donate their time (a lot of the cost is for labor) -- HECO and Solar City and many Electrical Companies could use good PR. Ask your Association of Owners for solutions and names of people who could help. There's gotta be a solution to get EV chargers installed in such a large complex without the cost coming out of your pocket. There's an answer waiting to be found and I hope you end up with a good EV/PV success story in the near future.

 

[spleen]

Given low distances driven in HI and high electricity costs (including commercial demand charges), I doubt that we'll ever see widespread rollout of high amperage destination charging in HI. Much more likely to see low amperage public EVSEs like the OpConnect units which means that many owners won't bother to upgrade their chargers in their car which means lower demand for high amperage EVSEs which means .... it becomes a chicken vs the egg situation. For example, I didn't bother upgrading the charger in my new X - I left it as the default 48 amp charger.

I have a 50 mile round trip commute daily. The lowest I've seen my rated miles drop to so far is 120 (admittedly I haven't done any round the island drives yet, lol). I don't *need* destination charging though it's always nice to pick up free electrons. The cars that do need the destination charging are the small battery pack EVs such as the Leafs and the mievs. But they can't use the extra capacity of the high amperage destination chargers so there's little incentive for business owners to put them in - they could get by with a Chargepoint or OpConnect or SemaConnect installation.

 

[Richard Maui]

Thank you everybody for this conversation. Chargers at condos and apartments is a big deal and varies for each location. The source of my electricity is way less than 100 amps. I'm content with 29 miles/hr for overnight charging.

I was just informed that my MS is in transit to Hawaii - delivery is June 21 - July 5. Charger not yet installed. I'm getting nervous! (But excited!!)

 

[crikescrikes]

Given low distances driven in HI and high electricity costs (including commercial demand charges), I doubt that we'll ever see widespread rollout of high amperage destination charging in HI. Much more likely to see low amperage public EVSEs like the OpConnect units which means that many owners won't bother to upgrade their chargers in their car which means lower demand for high amperage EVSEs which means .... it becomes a chicken vs the egg situation. For example, I didn't bother upgrading the charger in my new X - I left it as the default 48 amp charger.

I have a 50 mile round trip commute daily. The lowest I've seen my rated miles drop to so far is 120 (admittedly I haven't done any round the island drives yet, lol). I don't *need* destination charging though it's always nice to pick up free electrons. The cars that do need the destination charging are the small battery pack EVs such as the Leafs and the mievs. But they can't use the extra capacity of the high amperage destination chargers so there's little incentive for business owners to put them in - they could get by with a Chargepoint or OpConnect or SemaConnect installation.

I agree with you that Hawaii probably won't see a widespread rollout of high amperage DC's --especially not with battery packs improving at a rate of 5ish% per year.

At that rate of battery improvements future affordable EV models will have ranges of 400-500 miles in 5-10 years, and very few drivers would need high amp charging at their destination.

You're right there's little incentive for business owners to install high amp DC's, but do you see a need for high amp connectors at apartments and condos? As you look into Hawaii's future having over 50% of high-rise residents and tourists needing to charge their EV's at their parking lots, what's you thoughts on high amperage HPWC's at those complexes (apartment, condominiums, and hotels)?

Do you envision each stall having its own, or owners having a queue system for a multi-connector station? Maybe all connectors will be high amperage and dual chargers will be combined and be standard on all Teslas? Without fast-charging, what's your thoughts on hundreds of EV's needing a charge each night at shared stations if each occupied a station for several hours?

I think by the end of 2025 more than 50% of all NEW vehicle sales in the U.S. will be an EV. Hopefully apartment developers and city and SolarCity engineers are planning on such future. On Oahu, do you notice if many Tesla & EV owners live in condos or high-rises?

 

[ReddyLeaf]

FYI, Bio-Beetle ECO Rental Cars used to rent a Volt and Leaf on Maui. I rented one several years ago when there was only one DCQC on Maui and only a couple of L2 options. The condo I rented didn't have anything outside except a L1 plug that I wasn't allowed to use (plus it also faulted after a few minutes due to the CGFI). I was able to charge at the Kahana Gateway Shopping Center about 1/2 mile from my condo, sometimes during dinner, sometimes overnight. I ended up walking back and forth after dinner or coffee. It wasn't a huge pain since I needed the exercise anyway and normally walk a couple miles a day anyway, but I doubt other non-EV driver would do it.

As for the OP installation, due to the high electricity costs, the installation has to be metered (like the ChargePoint) otherwise free-loaders will pile on. This also means that friends, family, renters (see above), as well as neighbors who will befuture EV owners can share the station. I think it's a perfect solution, and hope it convinces others to buy an EV as well. Finally, it might be useful to share the condo name, as many are rented by mainlanders.

 

[spleen]

This is why many of us local owners have petitioned Tesla for Superchargers here in HI - not for destination charging but to allow residents of condos and other common shared parking situations a way to allow for ownership without the humbug that dsmith has been forced to go through.

 

[Richard Maui]

To bring this up to date. My S70D arrived Monday, June 27. Delivery Specialist Daniel Fonseca delivered it right to my condo parking lot and spent two hours going over everything. Great job! Love my Tesla!

The ChargePoint station is in and operating. I was told it was connected to a 40amp source but my app says it's delivering 30 amps, about 17 miles per hour.

One caveat on the association paying for the installation - which they did - but the board wants to recover capital costs. My condo electric bill averages about .28 per Kwh. The AOAO is charging me .42 per Kwh. I don't mind this, I think it's probably close to what public access stations charge. But with the small amount of miles I drive on Maui, and being the only one using the station, the board will soon learn that recovering their capital costs could take 50 years! I'll be waiting for the other shoe to drop with a massive increase in my costs!

(The stripes and bumpers have been painted green since this picture.)

 

[Akikiki]

Congratulations Richard !! All coming together, huh? Funny to see a new Tesla parked. Most of us drove day and night for the first month because we could not stop or leave the car. (just liddin')/

You mentioned "but my app says it's delivering 30 amps" AC circuits only actually provide 80% max of whatever the circuit size is. For instance, 220 / 50 amp allows 40 amps max. 40 amp allows 32 amps max. Perfectly normal for that 40 amp to only do 30 +/-. Do you have your charging dialed up to max number (at least to 32 or 33) so its not the car only trying to pull 30 amps?

You will still have a "full tank of electrons" by daylight each day.

 

[Galve2000]

Congratulations on your beautiful new Model S!!

 

[TaoJones]

This is why many of us local owners have petitioned Tesla for Superchargers here in HI - not for destination charging but to allow residents of condos and other common shared parking situations a way to allow for ownership without the humbug that dsmith has been forced to go through.

Given Tesla's 2-year old commitment to density as well as to distance for SCs, and given that they just put an SC in Mexico City, do keep after the SC team along with, perhaps, an occasional letter to the Board to let them know that an SC in Hawaii would be appreciated - and utilized - and would serve as a catalyst for further sales to the non-garaged while the infrastructure in general catches up.

Now, whether Hawaii will get an SC before Arkansas, North Dakota, or the GSCW (Great Supercharger Wasteland that is the I-10 corridor between Tucson and San Antonio) is another question.

 

[nanimac]

Check this out...portable EV charging station ! Maybe a solution for some condo/townhome complexes?

The portable charging station

 

[TaoJones]

Check this out...portable EV charging station ! Maybe a solution for some condo/townhome complexes?

The portable charging station

Kudos to the designers for figuring out a solution that doesn't require permits or trenching, while providing a decent charge rate.

That said, the price is a bit offputting yet. Although even as I type that I chuckle since more than a few of us thought, and think, the same about certain EVs.

Looking forward to a less expensive variant over time. It's got a niche for sure.

But it does make $3,800 (for example) for a traditional condo charging solution look paltry by comparison. Then again, with the cost of electricity, there's a breakeven point there somewhere... Fun to think about, anyway.

 

[dsmith2189]

Check this out...portable EV charging station ! Maybe a solution for some condo/townhome complexes?

The portable charging station

No good for me. I am inside a parking structure.
I think that renters would be the market for this.

 

[nanimac]

Portable chargers at Airport Industrial park building on Paia St..where Big Kahuna Pizza is..maybe an option for dsmith

 

[dsmith2189]

Have an update on my condo charging situation (40+ story, 400+ unit structure, 5 parking levels)
After the condo installed LED lighting in all common areas and PV they did another power survey. this was from a "condo charging specialist" if that exists.
they read the report at the last HOA meeting, he said they could safely install 10 Level 2 chargers or 20 Level 1 Chargers.
Much better than the ones I did 3 years ago that said none, without an expensive upgrade to the buildings electrical infrastructure.
Better get my ducks in a row and double check everything I need to do to get it approved.
Since I have learned a lot in the last 3 years about my charging I think I would gladly use a Level 1 charger if that is my only option.

 

[Akikiki]

dsmith, That's wonderful news. Finally some useful help for you. Wonderful. I know you know what I am saying. Are the insistent that it be Level 1 or 2 and not just NEMA 14-50 plug? I was looking on HomeDepot and Lowe's. There;s some electrical boxes that allow for a separate meter with its 14-50 plug, so you could separate your power usage from the condo and pay only your usage.

Great news. So very pleased, for you.

 

[Lloyd]

-

By the way, Maui rents twice as many cars annually as Oahu but none are EV. When enough of the condos where people stay have charging stations, perhaps there will be EV rental cars.

I travel to Kauai 2x per year and request EVs every time and the rental companies just don't offer them!

 

[Akikiki]

I travel to Kauai 2x per year and request EVs every time and the rental companies just don't offer them!

One of these days that's all they will have. They just need to "see the light".