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Now, to convince body corporate

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Omniwolf, why don't you pm meloccom and ask for his by law details? He went to extreme lengths but has a permanent and acceptable solution. He may even have a thread here about it.

he does, it's the one he linked to in this thread :)
The more options the better, I guess. It's still a trial, and even if I ordered the car today it would still only come in Jan, so I want to be as helpful as I can to ensure nothing changes in the meantime
 
he does, it's the one he linked to in this thread :)
The more options the better, I guess. It's still a trial, and even if I ordered the car today it would still only come in Jan, so I want to be as helpful as I can to ensure nothing changes in the meantime
Does your car sit there during the day much? I have another idea for you that will give you a permanent outcome.
 
yep, neither my wife nor I drive to work, so during the week it'll be the occasional short trip, and irregular weekend driving. On weekdays (midnight -> 6pm) it's parked in my apartment block 99.99% of the time (I'm hoping this will help with my Youi insurance too :) )
 
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You probably only need 2 or 3 solar panels to charge it as you have limited use, so what you could do is offer to install those and let the strata have any excess power. Free charging and permanency for you. Small win for them. Panels with individual microinvertors are best so that you can run 240v down to the car.
 
Sorry I came to this thread a bit late but sounds like a good result for you omniwolf and very glad you got it through.

As others have said in this thread, this is just the start and each building will need to start considering how they're going to handle future EVs.

But the more people who get it done in their apartment block the better!
 
That's per MONTH -> 551 divided by 7. I used to spend much more than that a week with the Merc.
I think your wording confused Dborn - it sounds like you were saying the petrol car cost you $80 per month :)
If you check my amazing spread sheet, theoretically I will be spending less than $20 per month on electricity for the car! crazy. Although i'm sure the first 6 months I'll be doing a lot more driving than I currently do.

Sorry I came to this thread a bit late but sounds like a good result for you omniwolf and very glad you got it through.

As others have said in this thread, this is just the start and each building will need to start considering how they're going to handle future EVs.

But the more people who get it done in their apartment block the better!
Thanks! You might remember we spoke on the phone a few weeks back. I told body corporate about your services, but they seemed OK for me to do a self read which works out cheaper for me. I mentioned what you talk about on your website (electricity should be cheaper from body corporate as they get special discounts) but they looked at me blankly.. when I get my first bill from them I might try and compare to what I'm paying and see. That was a big draw card for me (cheaper body corporate power which could help offset the Jet Charge subscription), but it might not be true for all places.. just something to watch out for I guess.
 
Here's my experience of installing the standard high power wall connector (aka HPWC) in my garage in Sydney. This may help other people.
I own my apartment in a block of 8 (like townhouses).
I had no trouble in getting permission to install a wall connector. Tesla has a list of suggested electricians, although you can get any electrician to do it.
I phoned one of the suggested electricians. He came and discussed the best way to install the HPWC, and provided a detailed written quote.
My garage is about 30 metres from the meter room, so the power was run straight from my apartment's meter. I had to run a conduit across the common garage ceiling.
While waiting for my car to be built, I took opportunities to explain the planned HPWC installation to my neighbours (who comprise the strata executive committee).
I wrote an email to the strata managing agent (with electrician's quote and photos of garage ceiling). He said that a strata Exec meeting could approve putting the conduit across the common area ceiling. (Lucky I didn't need an AGM or by-law, huh?).
I wrote a formal letter to the Exec committee. Then we had an "on paper" Exec meeting to approve it.

My letter to the Exec committee was:
"To the Owners Corporation of Strata Plan XXXXX,
Dear Sir / Madam,
I write to request permission to install anelectrical conduit from the building’s switch room to my garage for charging anelectric car.
This will be entirely at my expense.
My new “Tesla Model S” all-electric car arrivesin March 2015.
If I charge the car on the existing garagepower point, then it charges slowly at 10 Amps.
The best way to charge the car is via a 40Amp wall connector, installed by an electrician.

My current garage power point is suppliedvia my laundry fuse box (one level above), coming straight down through theconcrete slab. This power point can’t be easily upgraded to 40 Amps because anew cable would need to be drilled through the concrete slab.
The best way to get 40 Amp power into mygarage is to run a new electrical conduit from the building switch room acrossthe common garage ceiling. It will look like the other conduits on the garageceiling that already supply lights.
An electrician recommended by Tesla hasgiven the advice above and quoted me $1,920.00 to install the conduit and thewall connector in my garage (see attachment).

Some points to note:
- The newelectrical conduit comes off after my meter, so I pay for the electricity likenormal
- Theability to charge an electric car may increase the value of the property tofuture buyers
- Electriccars makes no fumes and almost no noise
- Themodel I am getting is called S85, with up to a 500km driving range off onecharge

Here’s part of our common garage ceiling.The conduit will look like the one supplying the electric light (see photo 1)
Inside
my garage, the electrician willinstall a silver connector box on the wall, like the one shown in this photo (see photo 2)
I would like to have the electrician installthis within the next few weeks. I have already talked to a few other residents,and there have been no objections so far.
As this involves running a conduit across commonproperty, I need Owners Corporation permission to proceed.
If there are any questions, please let meknow.
Regards,
garage ceiling.jpg
wall connector.JPG

 
Thanks Kayto, good info.

So I think my last sticking point is the electrician in his proposal said he would use the "existing circuit breaker", which body corporate wants to know about. Is there a circuit breaker in the actual charger? Or will I need to get the electrician to install a breaker between the charger and the rest of the body corporate circuit?
 
Yeah, installing an isolation switch is part of the proposal, but the "existing" circuit breaker is what threw a spanner in the works

[edit] just received a call from the electrician, apparently what he meant by using the existing circuit breaker, was that he'll put a breaker on the existing circuit. hopefully this should be enough for the body corporate! I rang and left a VM with them.

ps sorry for the play by play, i'm just excited :) [/edit]
 
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You wont need an additional breaker unless other items are already on this circuit. You are simply plugging into a 10amp power point (gpo), and the car in any case will only draw what it needs. You won't need a seperate switch as long as the power point has a switch.
The moment you 'hard wire' the above is no longer relevant.
All you should need an electrician for is to install a small meter near the power point, or alterntively you could just buy a plug in meter and skip the electrician all-together. Plug in meters are available at jaycar if they exist near you.