MNSparky
Senior Member
- Location
- Minneapolis, MN
- Occupation
- Electrical Contractor - 2023 NEC
Hello all,
I have 4 condo buildings that have residents that are requesting the ability to install type 2 EVSE (often referred to as an EV charger) to charge their electric cars in the underground parking garage. Most condo building around here are built so the services come into the underground garage and there are meters and main breakers for the units in the garage, but no provisions to install branch circuits off of the residents meters. In a nutshell, the underground garage was never intended to have resident power installed in it, it's all association power. This is a major stumbling block for the buildings as it's easy to add a branch circuit off of association power but pretty difficult to add one off of resident power. I've explored the option of tapping the main disconnect for the units and adding a panel somewhere (so I can reduce the OCPD down to what the ESVE needs), but that is not sustainable as there is very little wall space to put all these panels unless I want to mount them in the parking stalls. If I do that, a lot of the time the bid to run the 100a feeder from the main to the space is overwhelming to the resident. Or if it's a 60a feeder, the capacity to add a 32amp load is just not there.
What I've done in one condo building is install a large panelboard and a bank of sub-meters fed from the associations power. The residents are then allowed to install a 40 or 50amp breaker in the panelboard that is metered by a submeter and run that out to their spot. It really brings the resident's cost down even though there is a somewhat large upfront expense of the new panelboard and submeter cabinet. The main problem with this is the association needs to read the submeters every month and send the residents individual EV bills so there is a bit of admin work (headache) involved.
These would be a lot easier to sell if there was a better idea or some way to automate the billings. Does anyone have a better idea? How do you in CA do it, supposedly you are the leaders in all things EV. I've spoken to Xcel Energy about metering options from them and they have nothing that would work outside of installing another service and meter bank. Ideally I'd be looking for a service that monitors the submeters remotely and bills the residents for a monthly fee so the association doesn't have to do it. I can't seem to find one online.
Any thoughts or suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks!
I have 4 condo buildings that have residents that are requesting the ability to install type 2 EVSE (often referred to as an EV charger) to charge their electric cars in the underground parking garage. Most condo building around here are built so the services come into the underground garage and there are meters and main breakers for the units in the garage, but no provisions to install branch circuits off of the residents meters. In a nutshell, the underground garage was never intended to have resident power installed in it, it's all association power. This is a major stumbling block for the buildings as it's easy to add a branch circuit off of association power but pretty difficult to add one off of resident power. I've explored the option of tapping the main disconnect for the units and adding a panel somewhere (so I can reduce the OCPD down to what the ESVE needs), but that is not sustainable as there is very little wall space to put all these panels unless I want to mount them in the parking stalls. If I do that, a lot of the time the bid to run the 100a feeder from the main to the space is overwhelming to the resident. Or if it's a 60a feeder, the capacity to add a 32amp load is just not there.
What I've done in one condo building is install a large panelboard and a bank of sub-meters fed from the associations power. The residents are then allowed to install a 40 or 50amp breaker in the panelboard that is metered by a submeter and run that out to their spot. It really brings the resident's cost down even though there is a somewhat large upfront expense of the new panelboard and submeter cabinet. The main problem with this is the association needs to read the submeters every month and send the residents individual EV bills so there is a bit of admin work (headache) involved.
These would be a lot easier to sell if there was a better idea or some way to automate the billings. Does anyone have a better idea? How do you in CA do it, supposedly you are the leaders in all things EV. I've spoken to Xcel Energy about metering options from them and they have nothing that would work outside of installing another service and meter bank. Ideally I'd be looking for a service that monitors the submeters remotely and bills the residents for a monthly fee so the association doesn't have to do it. I can't seem to find one online.
Any thoughts or suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks!
