Everything You Need To Know About Charging Of Electrical Vehicles In Condos Of Toronto

Electric vehicles are a relatively new innovation in the world of technology, a step towards green future. While there are a lot of environmental benefits from the electric vehicles, it is still not used commonly because it is expensive and unreliable as of yet.

Right now, there are two kinds of electric vehicles in the market, one would be fully electric (BEV) and another would be a hybrid between electric and gasoline (PHEV). The battery range for these cars start from 15 kWh and goes up to 100 kWh. The smallest battery has a range of 120 km after a full charge whereas the biggest battery can take you as far as 500 km after a full charge. While the hybrid cars contain a small battery of 15 to 20 kWh along with a gas tank as a backup whereas the fully electric cars can contain either big or small battering, depending on what size they are. Even though the acquiring prices for this coming of age technology is very expensive, the operating cost is just as low. A gas-fueled vehicle can make you spend up to $ 300 to 500 on maintenance whereas the electric vehicle can get the maintenance done in about $ 30 to 50.

At the moment, the huge portion of this market is held under Tesla which is the biggest manufacturer of the electric vehicles. However, more and more other manufacturers are also integrating the market. The electric vehicles take up to 20 to 30 minutes to recharge to full.

Even though the popularity of the electric vehicles is slow to spread, it is spreading, and more and more people prefer electric vehicle instead of the same old gas-fueled vehicle. Since the charging of the car takes up almost half an hour, people would mostly support the idea of having the car chargers as close to home as possible. People living in condos in Toronto have also started calling out to the authorities to add the charging stations in the parking areas of the buildings. However, the Condominium Act stands firmly against the idea because the installation of the charging station is expensive, even more so for the older buildings as compared to the installation process in the newer buildings. There are 3 kinds of issues that can be risen by the condo buildings and they are

• In the newer buildings, it will be a lot easier to get the charging stations installed as compared to the older buildings. This is because the new buildings have the infrastructure that can easily accommodate the charging stations without costing too much and also the board members who will be willing to do something about it. However, there will still be a few hindrances to face such as drawing up the logistics and who to contact and how to even start the whole thing.
   
• Outright refusal is a strong possibility for a lot of buildings, especially the old ones. Installations of the electronic vehicle charging stations will require a lot of infrastructural changes in the building which either some developers might just not be willing to do because of how costly it would be or because it is just not possible due to the reason that the building is so old and any infrastructural changes would damage the structure.
   
• However, most of the time the biggest issue created is by the board members when demanding the installation of the charging station. They have a lot of excuses along the lines of the process being too expensive, complex or just absurd. The best possible solution to this problem would be to go to the board members united and pressurize them into agreeing with your idea.

While most of the condos have the parking area along with the building, some of the condos accommodate the parking area separate from the building. As the charging stations would be installed in the parking area, there are different ways to deal with the issue. If the parking area is part of the condo building, you will have to not only gain the permission of the board members but also the approval of the majority of the residents. However, if the parking area is separate from the condo building, it would be a lot easier to install the charging stations as it will only require adding a few changes to the surrounding area instead of modifying the whole infrastructure.

There is also another issue of the electricity bill for the charging. But, this varies depending on how the charging stations have been installed and there are a few workarounds available for the problem. For example, if the charging station has been installed for an individual owner privately, the usage of electricity can be connected to the existing meter of the resident so that they can pay for whatever electricity they have used. There is another option of submetering the thing, this will allow the company to track the electricity usage directly to the owner of the electric vehicle and charge them personally for their usage of electricity. However, this will cost additional charges for sub-meter installations. The condo managers can also just add a general service fee to the maintenance fee already charged to the users of the electric vehicle charging station. Because the law of Ontario does not allow the electricity to be resold, the fee charged will not be considered electricity bill but in fact, a service charge applied. Then there is also a more modernized option allowing a public charging station to be able to maintain separate accounts of the electric vehicle users and keep track of the electricity usage via their accounts. This way, the same station can be used by many people while also providing a private station to every consumer.

However, it will all be for naught if the Condominium Act is not amended and remains a barrier towards green future.