EV fever is hitting Australia and New Zealand in a big way…not just because people are passionate about the environmental benefits of purchasing a low or zero emission vehicle, but also to gain independence from the soaring cost of traditional fuels.
And, with the rapid pace of development in major cities in both countries, but particularly in Auckland, Melbourne and Sydney, apartment blocks, townhouses or multi-person dwellings are a great solution for those who want to live close to work (but don’t have several million dollars for a block of land or a house!).
There are a couple of big considerations when planning and installing an electric vehicle charge point in an apartment building – or any building with multiple residents or where a body corporate is involved.
The first is how and who will pay for the initial installation? Where will it be located and what if there is more than one resident with an EV?
The second? Will you charge for people to use your charge point – a user pays system – or will it be free? Either way, how do you monitor and manage it while ensuring fair and equitable access and value for money for everyone?
(And a third, but not so important, consideration is what does your charge point look like? Believe it or not, our team have umpired disagreements about the visual appeal of charging stations!)
There is a great solution to all these questions; software. Our in-house software coders have developed some of the smartest EV management software on the Australian and New Zealand market that is capable of managing stuff like:
- Multiple flexible billing options – by the hour, by kWh and by consumer type
- Load management and balancing across groups or pools of chargers
- Real-time and historic reporting and dashboard options – find out who is using the most power so you can plan how much you’ll need for the future
With a heap of experience in installing EV equipment in apartment and body corporate-managed buildings, we can advise you how to make best use of existing infrastructure, what upgrades are necessary and what you can probably do without.
