Condo EV charger installed - Ontario

[Vawlkus]

LOL. You're so cute. They know the correct information - they're ignoring it.

How do you know that? Have you read their minds?

There’s a lot of bad info out there.

 

[Calliope]

How do you know that? Have you read their minds?

No, but I do read their tone and body language.

 

[rotomese]

Just my humble opinion, but I feel that it is always better for the condo board to institute a comprehensive Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Plan. Having owners one-off installations will severely restrict the ability for others to install a EV charger in the future. A plan will specify the amperage that each charger can use (24 amp, 30 amp breaker is more than enough, this gives about 32km/hr charging). Also the gov'ts ZEVIP program will pay 50% of the total cost! Electrical contractors will sell you their system that includes meter reading etc which is both complicated and expensive. Just for comparison, we installed 2 panels each with the availability to feed 21 chargers (42 in total) with a load sharing and usage reporting panel. We had 14 chargers installed even though we only had 2 ev's at the time. That was a year ago, since then we have had 2 more installs and have 5 ev's total. Most of the others did the install because the price was great, or because they are planning to get an EV in the future, or to increase the value of their condo. The installs, including the infrastructure was done with zero cost to owners not participating, or those that did not have a parking spot. The hydro is billed back to the EV owner with zero markup every 3 months. My bill for the last 12 months came to $246. The cost of the installs including all costs, ESA inspections, share of the infrastructure cost and all taxes was between $2902 and $3405.

Full disclosure, I am on my buildings board of directors. I have installed a charger in my last 3 condos over the last 9 years. I also now consult with board of directors specifically with regard to Electrical Vehicle Infrastructure planning.

Please is there a way to contact you? My condo's board is looking into installing multiple chargers and I would like to get in touch with you and acquire your services. Thank you!

 

[Akikiki]

Kudo's to all of you for your thoughtful questions and excellent answers.

Consider this: A local condo unit owner was one of the first Tesla owners here in 2012. He spent years using public charging because his high rise's infrastructure could not support the addition of EV charging in the parking garage. In a budget reducing move, the board hired a contractor to replace all the old lighting with LED in the garage. In the end, the building's lighting demand was reduced, there was excess capacity in the garage, that paved the way for owners to contract their share of the excess and install privately owned EVSE. Building uses less electricity to provide lighting and costs less. They are paying for the LED lighting in reduced costs. And the owners paid for their own installation and electricity. And they owners have added value to their units' assigned parking space.

 

[sando]

Is this just an installation for you or a shared installation with others?

Haven't been checking the forums lately. This installation cost is per unit, but I believe these cost were averaged out because multiple people chose to install at the same time. I was told around 10 were installed in the first round.

My total cost after taxes, fully up and running was $3,983.25. Running costs are $1.32 per hour - charge speed at 7kW (32A). Hopefully this info is helpful to some others here.

 

[CarlZ]

Haven't been checking the forums lately. This installation cost is per unit, but I believe these cost were averaged out because multiple people chose to install at the same time. I was told around 10 were installed in the first round.

My total cost after taxes, fully up and running was $3,983.25. Running costs are $1.32 per hour - charge speed at 7kW (32A). Hopefully this info is helpful to some others here.

Hi thanks for this. Can you tell me the name of the company that installed ?

 

[Sceptre]

I moved to a condo 6 months ago and since I was planning to buy a Tesla Model 3, I started the process through my condo board to request the installation of an EV charger at my dedicated parking spot. After almost 5 months since I started the request, I finally got the charger installed today. Super happy I can finally charge at home. It's not the easiest process to go through but in the end it was worth it. If you're thinking of requesting one in your condo feel free to ask any questions about my process. The good thing in Ontario is that the law was changed in May 2018 which makes it nearly impossible to be rejected for the request unless it poses a safety risk or the building infrastructure isn't capable of supporting it.

Congratulations!!

Can you please share the location of condo. I’m planning to relocate & I’ve a Tesla .) Thank you!!!

 

[Soul Surfer]

Being on the "back 9", we sold our last house in Richmond Hill in 2017 and moved into a large penthouse rental apartment. This is NOT a condo but an older building from the early 50's - just what we wanted. Also, being an I.T. geek, I had set up a spreadsheet as we scoured the city looking for a proper place to rent. It needed to meet the criteria of open concept; dishwasher; in suite laundry, and one hopeful one - would they let me hookup my charger for my Gen 2 Volt at the time.

You'd be surprised how many "flat-earth" thinkers are out there. This place was the last and number 27 in the series of places we visited and checked off boxes and filled in data on my spreadsheet. Some places asking >$500/month but still REFUSED to allow me to get the hookup for my underground spot. Our location community manager was really cool and they said "SURE!", and I was set up within the week of moving in. As I am not metered, I've considered upgrading to a Tesla charger but I don’t want to rock the boat and just leave my J-1772 to Tesla adapter on the tip now. In any case I never really do more than 70-100 km MAX in a day, so I'm in no rush for the charge up. The only advantage would be to press the handle for the charge port to open, but meh, whatever.

 

[Calliope]

I’m planning to relocate & I’ve a Tesla .)

FWIW, I'm in a building on Wynford Dr. that has 2 SWTCH charges in the underground garage, with the willingness to add more if needed. Message me if you want more info on the buildings.

 

[CarlZ]

Being on the "back 9", we sold our last house in Richmond Hill in 2017 and moved into a large penthouse rental apartment. This is NOT a condo but an older building from the early 50's - just what we wanted. Also, being an I.T. geek, I had set up a spreadsheet as we scoured the city looking for a proper place to rent. It needed to meet the criteria of open concept; dishwasher; in suite laundry, and one hopeful one - would they let me hookup my charger for my Gen 2 Volt at the time.

You'd be surprised how many "flat-earth" thinkers are out there. This place was the last and number 27 in the series of places we visited and checked off boxes and filled in data on my spreadsheet. Some places asking >$500/month but still REFUSED to allow me to get the hookup for my underground spot. Our location community manager was really cool and they said "SURE!", and I was set up within the week of moving in. As I am not metered, I've considered upgrading to a Tesla charger but I don’t want to rock the boat and just leave my J-1772 to Tesla adapter on the tip now. In any case I never really do more than 70-100 km MAX in a day, so I'm in no rush for the charge up. The only advantage would be to press the handle for the charge port to open, but meh, whatever.

Nice free electricity? How to control the load balance? If other residents want to do the same?

 

[Soul Surfer]

Nice free electricity? How to control the load balance? If other residents want to do the same?

I charge at 15 amps as I'm in no hurry. I might not even register. This is a HUGE community with loads of resources so I'm not even a "rounding error". The AC unit I donated to the maintenance office is a 12k BTU which used to pop the fuse ALL THE TIME at our apartment and so I'm sure that I fly so low under the radar that I'm just not there.

 

[Gran]

Just my humble opinion, but I feel that it is always better for the condo board to institute a comprehensive Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Plan. Having owners one-off installations will severely restrict the ability for others to install a EV charger in the future. A plan will specify the amperage that each charger can use (24 amp, 30 amp breaker is more than enough, this gives about 32km/hr charging). Also the gov'ts ZEVIP program will pay 50% of the total cost! Electrical contractors will sell you their system that includes meter reading etc which is both complicated and expensive. Just for comparison, we installed 2 panels each with the availability to feed 21 chargers (42 in total) with a load sharing and usage reporting panel. We had 14 chargers installed even though we only had 2 ev's at the time. That was a year ago, since then we have had 2 more installs and have 5 ev's total. Most of the others did the install because the price was great, or because they are planning to get an EV in the future, or to increase the value of their condo. The installs, including the infrastructure was done with zero cost to owners not participating, or those that did not have a parking spot. The hydro is billed back to the EV owner with zero markup every 3 months. My bill for the last 12 months came to $246. The cost of the installs including all costs, ESA inspections, share of the infrastructure cost and all taxes was between $2902 and $3405.

Full disclosure, I am on my buildings board of directors. I have installed a charger in my last 3 condos over the last 9 years. I also now consult with board of directors specifically with regard to Electrical Vehicle Infrastructure planning.

Can i ask you how long did it take from requesting Evse in your building to installation? I have been inquiring to my building condo board for ev charging since 2018 and have been requesting & ready to pay for my own installation since Jan 2020 and I keep getting the run around, "we are looking into a Comprehensive Electric Vehicle Infrastructure for the building". But it been two years and any requests I have made for Electric plans for the building to send to an evse installing have not been responded too.
What are any steps I can take if the building doesn't seem interested in stalling evse in the near future?

 

[CarlZ]

Can i ask you how long did it take from requesting Evse in your building to installation? I have been inquiring to my building condo board for ev charging since 2018 and have been requesting & ready to pay for my own installation since Jan 2020 and I keep getting the run around, "we are looking into a Comprehensive Electric Vehicle Infrastructure for the building". But it been two years and any requests I have made for Electric plans for the building to send to an evse installing have not been responded too.
What are any steps I can take if the building doesn't seem interested in stalling evse in the near future?

Lawyer up (if you own the unit)

 

[Akikiki]

Can i ask you how long did it take from requesting Evse in your building to installation? I have been inquiring to my building condo board for ev charging since 2018 and have been requesting & ready to pay for my own installation since Jan 2020 and I keep getting the run around, "we are looking into a Comprehensive Electric Vehicle Infrastructure for the building". But it been two years and any requests I have made for Electric plans for the building to send to an evse installing have not been responded too.
What are any steps I can take if the building doesn't seem interested in stalling evse in the near future?

Question: Have you contacted your local government Consumer Protection Division and asked what rights/rules you have to protect you concerning condo ownership and reasonable responses from your HOA? You likely can begin your search online looking under first Condo ownership. There could be rules imposed on the HOA that they have ignored.

 

[TOFLYIN]

Can i ask you how long did it take from requesting Evse in your building to installation? I have been inquiring to my building condo board for ev charging since 2018 and have been requesting & ready to pay for my own installation since Jan 2020 and I keep getting the run around, "we are looking into a Comprehensive Electric Vehicle Infrastructure for the building". But it been two years and any requests I have made for Electric plans for the building to send to an evse installing have not been responded too.
What are any steps I can take if the building doesn't seem interested in stalling evse in the near future?

Sorry, I have not been on the forum for a while. It really ticks me when condo boards ignore the law. This is especially a problem now with the HUGE increase in Supercharger costs. If you want to message me I would be happy to talk to you about your options.

 

[BJCanadaMax]

I am glad that my condo management sorted it out for a while now. Last week, i asked my nice building manager and it's around $5K end to end. I just forgot how the electricity is charged back to me haha. Anyway, i need to save the money for the upfront payment of the Taycan / Taycan insurance first.