Working with my HOA to get L2 charging installed... advice on how to make it as cost-efficient as possible?

[NewEnglandCld]

Hi All --

I am working closely with my condo's HOA to get two L2 charging stations installed at our property. The Board is going to be very cost-sensitive, and I really want to make sure this project can be approved.

I've been looking at a few options, and so far the two that seem the best that I have come across are Blink (trying to do their hybrid model) OR purchasing 2 Tesla Wall Connectors with Pedestals.

My main questions on the Tesla Wall Connectors are:

1. Would we be able to make the users of the charger pay for their charge/electricity?
2. Is access control easy enough? Restrict to certain Teslas, allow other EVs, change to allow all EVs during weekdays, but Teslas on weekend, etc.?

Does anyone have similar experience or other companies to look into? I'd really appreciate any advice!

 

[ThomasD]

What happens if two chargers are not enough? Are you able to add more if necessary?

 

[Mockingbird]

No I am not missing the point. You made your point and I am offering additional information, at the end of the day the HOA will have to decide on the risks they wish to accept, and the liability placed upon those who use the connector.

BTW, in a lot of the cases the adapter did not work because they did not buy a quality adapter, if you go to the link you will see that some of the adapters have been flagged as not compatible. Or they did not read the instructions, such as

View attachment 797797

You will also please note I support using a native J1772 approach.

I doubt that the HOA knows much about EVs at all and mentioning any risks is probably a sure way to get a decline.

 

[NewEnglandCld]

What happens if two chargers are not enough? Are you able to add more if necessary?

Given the Board, I think I’m lucky to get 2, and when we inevitably need more, we’ll revisit. Plus our energy company currently has a nice incentive for 2 chargers.

 

[NewEnglandCld]

Well got my first quote back today.... $20,000 to install 2 L2 chargers... I'm pretty shocked. Hoping it's just a highball number.

 

[KJD]

Well got my first quote back today.... $20,000 to install 2 L2 chargers... I'm pretty shocked. Hoping it's just a highball number.

Can you post the details of the quote ?

 

[NewEnglandCld]

Can you post the details of the quote ?

I don’t have a specific breakdown as of yet, but it’s for 2 L2 chargers run out of the main box. So a short run of wire (maybe 2-5 feet) that needs to be buried under grass, a new meter, and hardwiring into the two units on one pedestal. That doesn’t even include the hardware costs.

 

[ATPMSD]

I don’t have a specific breakdown as of yet, but it’s for 2 L2 chargers run out of the main box. So a short run of wire (maybe 2-5 feet) that needs to be buried under grass, a new meter, and hardwiring into the two units on one pedestal. That doesn’t even include the hardware costs.

I would believe $2,000 tops.

 

[ThomasD]

Are the chargers commercial or residential? I think the commercial chargers cost a lot more than the residential setups.

 

[NewEnglandCld]

Are the chargers commercial or residential? I think the commercial chargers cost a lot more than the residential setups.

So I found the chargers separately($2,000 for two with a pedestal. The $20k he’s quoting me is JUST for install. I’m obviously going to get other quotes, but being the first one it was just total sticker shock and kind of scared me as I thought I had a good chance of getting my board to approve of something that was maybe 5-7k tops.

 

[Earl]

That seems a bit crazy. I could see $3K to $5K if there was a very long run required but $10K per charger seems way high. The 2nd one shouldn't be much additional if it is close to the first.
I'd wait for more quotes.

 

[TXDawg]

Price of copper, approved conduit, City/County permits, unfortunately $20k is probably in the ballpark. My L2 install in my garage was $1k. Commercial work is always ridiculous! I’m not seeing where the incentive is for the HOA though. Most residents don’t like the fees they pay now, increasing everyone’s dues sounds like a hard sell to me, especially the ICE owners. And yes, you will most definitely have to increase dues with added common area power usuage and maintenance. Even with a percentage of the charge fee( if able to implement), there’s still management costs that will probably offset that. You might be better off having them designate an “EV charge spot” located near a common area outlet with all EV owners kicking in somehow if the costs become unmanageable.