Background on Electric Vehicle Charging
Electric vehicles run on Direct Current (DC) power. The fastest way to charge an electric vehicle is with DC fast charging stations. These are expensive bowser like installations designed to supply power on a commercial basis on a first come basis. Home charging and destination charging is facilitated by Alternating Current (AC) wall units that require the car itself to transform the AC into DC. The wall units, plugs and componentry are referred to as Electric Vehicle Supply Equipment (EVSE). There are different EVSE standards that define the protocols for charging to ensure, for example, that no current flows until the plug is inserted and that the correct amount of current flows into the on-board car charger.
The more current, the faster the charge. Home installations are typically limited to 32 amps single phase delivering 7 kW. Plug selection depends on the vehicle, but the emerging choice is between the European IEC 62196 Mennekes plug (used by Tesla in Australia) or the American SAE J1772 plug (used by Nissan & Mitsubishi). The other differentiator between wall units is the level of communications. Some are standalone (e.g. Tesla) whilst others require a RFID token for activation so that the usage record is networked back to a central data base for billing purposes (e.g ChargePoint).
The way forward for apartments.
The ideal would be for the constructing builder to run 40 amps circuits from the apartment electricity meter to the relevant basement car park. This is not realistic.
Through Next Gen Utilities, WINconnect offer a solution that daisy chains and load balances up to 10 car parks onto the one circuit. Typically, this would be a common area circuit. Use of each wall unit to charge cars is measured in kWHrs, and the consumption is communicated back to a central data base for monthly billing. WINconnect bill for the energy consumed to recover costs for the Owners Corporation at the common area energy tariff. Capital costs for the installation is funded by an administration fee applied to the monthly bills.