Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Electrical vehicle charging stations

[Bill Woolverton (bwoolver]

A level 3 charger would be a terrible idea, even if you were to split the cost 
with a service station (not sure how that would work). It would require much 
more infrastructure and cost several times more than even half a dozen level 2 
chargers (including electrical infrastructure). Level 2 chargers charge most 
EVs in 4-6 hours and even without scheduling six could probably handle one EV 
per unit assuming one charged once every week or two (different people will 
have different needs). Level one will take more than a full day given the 
battery capacity of new EVs. How many electric cars do you think you will start 
with? The chances of cars catching fire is pretty slim, especially if you are 
taking precautions like not fully charging or letting the battery get too 
low.You could put the electrical infrastructure in for 6 or more level 2 
chargers and install them incrementally. We have 5 electric cars and our 2 
level 2 chargers (which we added for a few thousand dollars using the conduit 
for our parking lot lights) could easily handle twice as many EVs. We just 
split the cost of electricity amongst the EV owners, however there are options 
for networking and metering depending on what chargers you install. There may 
also be federal, state or even municipal grants for installation. 

The battery and charging technology is likely to change as well, so that 
charging will take less time (it takes us more like 30-40 minutes with a level 
3 charger now), and there will also be far more level 3 chargers at service 
stations and elsewhere soon. 

Bill Woolverton
Pacific Gardens
Nanaimo, BC

> On Jan 3, 2022, at 23:45, Katie Henry <katie-henry [at] att.net> wrote:
> 
> Our community is under construction, about six months away from move-in, and 
> we're thinking about EV charging stations.
> 
> We will have 36 homes and a mix of garages, carports, and surface parking. We 
> currently have a vague plan to install some extra 240-volt circuits during 
> construction and run underground conduit to various locations to support the 
> addition of charging stations as residents acquire EVs. This raises lots of 
> follow-up questions about equipment standardization, Level 1 vs. Level 2, 
> adequate electrical capacity, networked vs. not-networked, metering/billing, 
> etc. Also, I have concerns about cars being charged catching on fire.
> 
> Should we consider installing a single Level 3 charging station shared by all 
> owners? Instead of each EV owner installing their own Level 1/2 charging 
> station and leaving their cars trickling overnight, everyone would use the 
> Level 3 station since a car will fully charge in 15 or 20 minutes. 
> 
> No question a Level 3 is more expensive. I've reached out to some vendors for 
> estimates but don't have any solid numbers yet. The electrical infrastructure 
> is a big part of the expense. Our electrical work to the site hasn't started 
> yet, so now is the time if we're going to do it. Even if it's more expensive, 
> it seems like a better long-term solution than the patchwork system we're 
> currently envisioning that may run out of capacity in ten years and will 
> always have maintenance and administrative overhead.
> 
> Anybody have any opinions? Good idea? Terrible idea?
> 
> Plan B (semi-seriously) is to approach the service station on the corner 
> about splitting the cost of a Level 3 charging station so members can go 
> there and we don't have to have any of the charging infrastructure on the 
> site. That would be my preference.
> 
> Katie Henry
> Heartwood Commons - Tulsa
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