Today I received an email from my condo association board, advising me of their position on proposals I had submitted to them for charging my Model S. In essence, they turned me down.
I asked for permission to install a 240 V outlet in a space in a common garage. The spaces are assigned to specific owners and indeed are deeded along with the condo itself. In this case, the space is not mine but another resident was letting me use it. (He and I had also had preliminary discussions about my possibly purchasing the space, but that discussion was on hold until I heard from the board.) The board email indicated that they could not support an approach that required changes to the common area (running conduit and cable along the wall or ceiling) and that might entail future expense or liability to the association. The same logic would apply to running a cable to my own present space in a surface parking lot, which would also entail excavation (and repair) of a driveway.
I had also offered to pay for initial installation of an outlet in a location that could eventually be for a shared charger, but the association did not want the precedent of having someone pay for private use of common property. (This option troubled them because I proposed tying into a "public" power circuit, not my own, so that it could be eventually be shared.)
The email does say that the Board will continue to examine the possibility of a shared chargi8ng facility, and would bring a proposal to the owners for approval. No timeline was indicated. But that may (or may not) eventually result in installing a charger where I could use it.
(I have simplified this discussion just a bit to avoid bogging down in extraneous details.)
So...I have no place to charge at home, and no certainty of a near-term solution.
As far as I know, Massachusetts has no legal requirements that would require condo associations to make reasonable accommodations for EVs (as some other jurisdictions seem to).
Even if moving were a reasonable option, it is certainly not an attractive option nor is it a near-term solution.
I suppose that this is my own doing. I "should" have nailed this down before getting my car.
There is one other option available that I know of. Another neighbor has an empty individual garage he would rent to me, and it has a 110 Volt outlet in it. I could rent that and at least would get some small charging benefit. But I had decided that charging at something like 10 amps on a shared 110 V circuit would not be worth the rental cost.
So for whatever it is worth, here is what may prove to be a cautionary tale for condo residents that are considering whether or not get a Tesla or any other EV...
Fortunately for me, there are two public charging sites within a couple miles of my home, which I have been using so far. And I am retired, with no daily "essential" driving. So it will work out, somehow....
I asked for permission to install a 240 V outlet in a space in a common garage. The spaces are assigned to specific owners and indeed are deeded along with the condo itself. In this case, the space is not mine but another resident was letting me use it. (He and I had also had preliminary discussions about my possibly purchasing the space, but that discussion was on hold until I heard from the board.) The board email indicated that they could not support an approach that required changes to the common area (running conduit and cable along the wall or ceiling) and that might entail future expense or liability to the association. The same logic would apply to running a cable to my own present space in a surface parking lot, which would also entail excavation (and repair) of a driveway.
I had also offered to pay for initial installation of an outlet in a location that could eventually be for a shared charger, but the association did not want the precedent of having someone pay for private use of common property. (This option troubled them because I proposed tying into a "public" power circuit, not my own, so that it could be eventually be shared.)
The email does say that the Board will continue to examine the possibility of a shared chargi8ng facility, and would bring a proposal to the owners for approval. No timeline was indicated. But that may (or may not) eventually result in installing a charger where I could use it.
(I have simplified this discussion just a bit to avoid bogging down in extraneous details.)
So...I have no place to charge at home, and no certainty of a near-term solution.
As far as I know, Massachusetts has no legal requirements that would require condo associations to make reasonable accommodations for EVs (as some other jurisdictions seem to).
Even if moving were a reasonable option, it is certainly not an attractive option nor is it a near-term solution.
I suppose that this is my own doing. I "should" have nailed this down before getting my car.
There is one other option available that I know of. Another neighbor has an empty individual garage he would rent to me, and it has a 110 Volt outlet in it. I could rent that and at least would get some small charging benefit. But I had decided that charging at something like 10 amps on a shared 110 V circuit would not be worth the rental cost.
So for whatever it is worth, here is what may prove to be a cautionary tale for condo residents that are considering whether or not get a Tesla or any other EV...
Fortunately for me, there are two public charging sites within a couple miles of my home, which I have been using so far. And I am retired, with no daily "essential" driving. So it will work out, somehow....
When they get tired of smelling it they might reconsider their decision.
