Condo EVSE (ie. chargers at 'multi-family' buildings) Support Thread

[jesselks]

You working to get Electric Vehicle Supply Equipment installed in a condo, multi-family building, or high-rise?

Have you heard/seen a project that we could learn from to make progress in a difficult situation?

Do you have advice to lend to those that are struggling with being the first at their building to install (or upgrade)?

Read on... and thanks for your contributions.

 

[jesselks]

Can anyone point me to examples for an "install request form/process" for their building?

Yesterday, my condo board's building manager asked me to locate additional examples in order to make an "official process" for myself and other future installs. I hope to get back to her within a week or two.

My board has refused to vote (yea or nay) on my fully self-funded EVSE proposal for over 1000 days now with only the one word concern of "liability." Last year, I adapted the process used by another building in NOVA that was going through their second install. That building was highly combative, with legal threats and such, so their process has a really one-sided "maintenance & liability agreement." Very favorable toward the UnitOwnersAssociation and burdensome on the owner/driver.

Turns out my board was something less than honest. As soon as our second EVSE request was floated, the hyper-cautious agreement was dumped and I was asked for a new template for our process. Still not clear that anyone involved has read my first proposal, but I'm super OK with finding an EV friendly agreement/guidelines/COI-verification/inspection/maint/rules&regulations/etc. or whatever you can share.

Thanks.

 

[mociaf9]

As a first step, I recommend reaching out to your area's Clean Cities Coalition member, for you it'd be the Greater Washington Region CCC. It's a program partnered with the US Department of Energy that works on this type of stuff. Their phone number is 202-671-1580. They may not have copies of the type of forms/documents you're looking for on hand, but they should either be able to get them easily or know where you should look/ask.

You might also try searching the Alternative Fuel Data Center site for something. That's an office in the US Department of Energy that does stuff for EVs and other alternatively fueled vehicles. They put out reports, studies, and have various tools and materials to help people considering using such vehicles. I know they have a lot of material for Workplace Charging programs, but I'm not sure about Multi-Unit Dwellings or condos, etc.

 

[JPoldo]

Have you considered contacting ChargePoint? As I understand it, they sell charging equipment to MDUs. They may have liability insurance or cover a lion share of your liability. As a condo board president for many years, I know every building improvement can be viewed as a liability. Copout! Maybe your current insurance or a small supplement protects you. Try getting elected to the BOD so you have greater say and a vote.

I currently live in a Boston MDU and have an assigned ChargePoint charger. My fee is $20/mo for unlimited useage. Sweet deal!

Promote EVSE as an amenity to increase the value of MDU. If a condominium building, property values increase with a EVSE. Similarly, apartments have greater value when equipped with EVSE.

 

[jesselks]

Can anyone compare my proposed EVSE install Process/RequestForm/Rules to their condo?

The manager at my building is still waiting for me to come up with additional examples from other condos. Another thread suggested Associations are cautious about posting their docs online.

If this is the case for you, I would really appreciate if could you compare your process to my proposal outline. All I need is a reply that it's complete, or what I have missed.

And of course, PM me if you can share any of your condo's process offline.

 

[jesselks]

If it helps, here's a response to a neighbor concerned about fire risk of charging EV's in a condo.

Another condo nearby successfully used this to address objections to their second EVSE install.

 

[jesselks]

This guy deserves a medal. I've never seen such a thorough write-up about an experience with condo chargers. My $6,000 Tesla Wall Connector: the story of bringing Electric Vehicle charging to a high-rise condo tower in Seattle - Jeff Wilcox

Here is exactly what I was searching for: a policy template.

Has anyone seen anything else like this?

 

[JPoldo]

You may want to use Berkshire Residential Investment company as an example with EVSE. They have nearly $9B invested in MDU properties across 17 states. Maybe they have a property comparable to yours. See website.

I live in one of their large apartment buildings in Boston and their garage has both public and private charging stations. EVSE is an amenity that gives properties a competitive edge over the competition.