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Charging my model 3 in Hawaii with an hoa

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Hi! New memeber. Wife and I just ordered our 2021 model 3 this week. We live on maui and own a condo. I understand the under Hawaii rules for ev that an Hoa has to allow you to charge your car. I was wondering if anyone has had any dealing with this. I believe our car arrives in about 4 weeks. I was planning on just installing a 240 volt near my front door then run the cord to the car. I would only have to do it 2-3 times a week as I don’t have to go to far. What can I expect in regards to hoa’s? Should I let them know what I’m doing or keep quiet about it?
 
I dont know any HOA that operates in a "dont tell us about something you are putting in a public space, and we will happily approve it later" mode.

Thats not what HOAs are about. You need to read up the rules of whats in your HOA documents, and follow whatever process they have for getting things like that approved, like submitting whatever forums and drawings they likely are going to want to see, etc.

"not telling them about it before you do it" is going to be a recipe for a fight, and likely chance they tell you to remove it and get proper approval.
If you just search TMC for the term "HOA" you can read plenty on peoples interactions with HOAs and this type stuff, like:


There are quite a few more, I think there were 9-10 pages of results for the term "HOA" when I just looked.
 
In California, at least, the rule is they have to let you put a charger in at your expense IF it can be done safely. And then, there are a BUNCH of architectural guidelines and safety guidelines that have to be met (including getting your charging infrastructure approved by the city / county, etc.).
So at least in California, you can't just "plug in" and run a cord. You have to prove that you won't burn down the condo complex doing so.
I'd imagine Hawaii isn't that much different in terms of wanting to ensure it is a safe installation.
I ended up putting in a Clipper Creek in my parking garage spot, and spent an extra $600 in inspections to prove to the city and HOA that it was installed properly. Per state law.
 
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Yeah, you contractually agreed to follow your CC&R's when you purchased, so not doing so is asking for trouble.
My guess is the law you referenced requires HOA's to allow charging infrastructure to be installed, but often the laws do not preclude HOA's from imposing reasonable requirements to minimize impacts to safety and/or aesthetics.
As you've proposed, you'd likely create a pedestrian tripping hazard, and you or your association would be liable for accidents.
 
Agree!! Check with your HOA. My first condo I lived in I installed a digital lock on my condo door and got written up. They stated it interferes with the hallway decor. I had to remove it and plug up a big hole that I drilled into my door (decor type door). I tried to fight it with HOA stating there is nothing saying I couldn't put that lock in. They agreed but denied my appeal.

I'm curious on the law stating they must allow charging. Is it the one stating if there is more than 100 parking spots they should consider it?

Anyways I recently moved to another condo and asked about EV charging. I expecting them to say bite me, but they said yes. I will have to pay for the conduits, the run, and the sub meter. Someone else has installed a tesla wall connector and the building manager said them $5500ish to install. My install will probably cost 6k-7k'ish as my run is almost twice as long. I'm guessing 200-300 feet of wire/conduits.

I'm trying to justify if it's worth 6k'ish to install charger for convenience... I think there is a tax break for install wall chargers right now that I would get the full $1000 tax credit.

That said you can utilize the 6 DC Quick Chargers in Maui.. You get to play the game and hope the chargers are not being in use. Make sure you buy a Chademo Adapter.
 
Well there are good HOA and some not so good. Having been the Pres. it was
no complaints, no issue. There are also crazy folks that complain about everything.
I would call the Pres. and show him what you want to do. He may have suggestions
that will make your life easy. You may want to look around if anyone has an solution,
in your complex or another complex and get a Pic.
A non-EV guy may have a problem to picture in his mind what your talking about.
I have let lots of stuff go and had to take people to court. Best of luck.
 
Hi! New memeber. Wife and I just ordered our 2021 model 3 this week. We live on maui and own a condo. I understand the under Hawaii rules for ev that an Hoa has to allow you to charge your car. I was wondering if anyone has had any dealing with this. I believe our car arrives in about 4 weeks. I was planning on just installing a 240 volt near my front door then run the cord to the car. I would only have to do it 2-3 times a week as I don’t have to go to far. What can I expect in regards to hoa’s? Should I let them know what I’m doing or keep quiet about it?
Hi Garth,
I want to bring my tesla to Maui but I don’t see any service centers on the island. How would you get yours serviced?
Thanks,
 
i looked into this a few months ago

first off - run it with the board! because i've read horror stories where someone had it completely installed only to have the board make him pay to have it removed.

i let my board know it writing and they let me look for an electrician to come and take a look at our set up. Fortunately our box was on the exterior wall of our garage directly opposite my parking space. They would have to run the supply from your unit so you would be solely responsible for that outlet and its use. The estimate came back at around 3k and the electrician would take care of all of the paper work and permits.

i decided against the installation as i am looking to move in the next year, but this is something the board would probably be happy you volunteer to do the legwork on
 
Ever. Never again, although wondering if Hawaii HOAs are better or worse?

No idea, but given how expensive much of Hawaii is, and the fact that a lot of it is vacation rentals, but there are still people who own there (who likely resent all the Air BnB and other rentals), I would say that human nature dictates that in places where there is a mix of owners and rentals, the people who OWN in those areas are probably SUPER anal about HOA rules.

They are likely irritated by all the rental units because in general, people renting something dont care about it as much as the people who own it, so the owners would likely nitpick everything. Its just human nature, and it would be magnified because of the "I retired to paradise and these yahoos XXXXXXX" feeling a lot of people owning would likely have.

Just speculation on my part, based on human nature, but thats what I would expect for hawaii, and any other "vacation destination" type spot, but more dictated by ownership mix than actual location.
 
Great point. Since I'm moving there I need to keep that in mind.

If you are buying something there (or any vacation destination type spot) I would investigate as much as I could with a real estate agent to see what the ownership mix is around wherever you are buying, and plan accordingly for what your specific needs would be.

Meaning, if you are going to live there full time, you likely want to be in a spot that has a lot of people who own (not rent) around you. If you are planning to live there "sometimes" and then rent out others, you likely want a place with a large mix of people doing that same thing.

It can sometimes be hard to figure out, but it would be something to think about, for sure. This doesnt go for just vacation spots but is magnified there, for the speculative reasons I stated above.

I personally happen to like HOAs, but I know what both sides of that are. I am willing to put up with the bureaucracy, etc, to have some sort of recourse if my neighbor were to park a beat up car on blocks in their front yard, or paint their home highlighter green or something. Definitely a trade off.
 
Hi! New memeber. Wife and I just ordered our 2021 model 3 this week. We live on maui and own a condo. I understand the under Hawaii rules for ev that an Hoa has to allow you to charge your car. I was wondering if anyone has had any dealing with this. I believe our car arrives in about 4 weeks. I was planning on just installing a 240 volt near my front door then run the cord to the car. I would only have to do it 2-3 times a week as I don’t have to go to far. What can I expect in regards to hoa’s? Should I let them know what I’m doing or keep quiet about it?
I'm on Maui. I've installed a charger at a condo with an HOA. Total cost was 5k because it had to go from my electrical panel, through the ceiling and then in a trench out to the parking lot. The electrician was Larry Wagner from ControlFreaksHawaii.com and I would recommend him. The Hawaii law about ev chargers and HOAs is 196-7.5. You submit a written request to your board saying you agree to the conditions (licensed contractor, insurance, maintenance) in 196-7.5