Your EV questions answered: What are the charging options if I live in an apartment?

Q: I am very interested in buying an EV, but I live in an apartment. I find there is very little information or discussion around the charging options for apartment dwellers. Could you address?

A: The Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI) has in part addressed this issue with the introduction of grants and supports for charging in apartments and other shared areas. For instance, if there is no existing EV charging system or network in your car park, the company responsible for managing the complex can apply to SEAI for grant support, which will provide up to 80 per cent funding – depending on the individual circumstances – for infrastructure costs and will also offer €600 per charge point installed.

Now, that does mean that either the management company which looks after your particular apartment block has to be EV-proactive, or you need to try to drum up support from other residents and start demanding that action be taken.

The SEAI admits that this won’t necessarily be easy.

“Some of residents might say that this doesn’t benefit them directly at the moment, although it might in the future. So that might create some difficulties,” said Robert Cazaciuc, programme executive for EV charging infrastructure at the SEAI.

Even if a landlord or management company can be convinced to apply for the SEAI grants, and to carry out the necessary works, there are also serious questions over transparency and accountability – there are already legions of complaints about overcharging for services by apartment management companies, so how can it be ensured that the appropriate and correct costs of charging are passed on?

“That’s what we want to see in terms of how they’re proposing to actually charge, and the passed-on cost when the infrastructure goes in, and how is it is all going to be managed. So we need to understand that as part of any grant application” said Declan Meally from the SEAI.

“We have been talking to equivalent bodies in the UK, and they have done some research into this” said Cazaciuc. “They were asking the same questions. They have found that they even though they haven’t explicitly said what charges everyone should be charged to make it fair, the residents were being charged a fair price. There were a few exceptional cases where there wasn’t a fair price. So there might be pros and cons to being too prescriptive about what management companies should and can’t do. But if there are issues, we’ll obviously intervene.”

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There is another issue, and that is the demand on the electricity grid. While the big energy suppliers have all consistently said that Ireland has enough energy generation capacity to cope with rising EV ownership, that usually comes with the caveat that management of that demand will be necessary. “We are mindful that smart charging for apartment blocks is key, especially given the larger demand likely to be put on the grid system from apartment blocks and their car parks” Gerry Cash from private charging provider EasyGo said.

“We believe that all grants should be directed towards smart chargers that can respond to the grid’s needs. any type of charger, dumb or otherwise, can be installed by any electrician and grant claims can be raised with SEAI. This will be a significant missed opportunity and will create issues in the future if not addressed now and could undermine ‘Smart Cities’ initiatives. The move to a smart grid needs to happen before the rapid increase in demand, not afterwards.”

There is also a percentage issue to be considered. According to the SEAI’s figures, the State’s housing stock is divided up as 88 per cent houses, and only 12 per cent apartments. Occupants of those apartments are divided into 20 per cent owners, 20 per cent renting from a local housing authority, and 60 per cent renting from a private landlord.

It would be unfair to dismiss apartment dwellers as undeserving of extra attention when it comes to electric car charging schemes – after all, what’s fair for one is fair for another, and we need to encourage as many people into EVs as possible? Possibly, though, there needs to be some balance drawn between the fact that those living in apartments are likely to have easier access to public transport, and the fact that when they do drive, they are driving in urban areas, where reducing localised emissions is as important as cutting carbon.

As ever where electric cars and their attendant infrastructure is concerned, the answer appears broadly simple – having more EVs on the road and more chargers for them are good things – but there’s a lack of simplicity in the routes we need to take to get there.

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