What's involved in installing electric vehicle charging stations in our building’s garage?

For those lucky few New York City co-op and condo buildings with parking spaces and garages, it’s time to think about electrifying them. Installing EV stations can help residents who already have electric vehicles and may spur people to make the switch from gas to electric the next time they buy a car—and that’s great for the planet!

Below are some tips on what to think about before installing an EV station.

Two types of electrical currents can be used to fuel an electric car: AC (alternating current) and DC (direct current). An electric car can charge on both AC and DC charging stations, but a hybrid car requires AC charging. There are also variations in the time required to charge different makes of cars.

There are three levels of EV charging stations. Hybrids can charge only on Level 1 stations, which are the ones that plug into a regular 110-volt outlet, while fully electric cars can charge on any of the three stations. 

Before installing charging stations, it's important to see what the charging needs actually are. How long are cars parked, and how great a distance do the cars normally travel? In a residential building, the cars are usually parked for at least ten hours at night. Then you need to estimate how many miles the cars drive during the day; it is not uncommon that one kW powers a car to travel approximately four miles.

• When rebuilding the parking lot or garage, add conduits with enough capacity for expansion to the entire lot.
• Carefully plan the locations of the cables so that it is easy to scale up the parking lot or garage.
• Secure enough additional electric capacity so that you can easily add to the number of EV stations as needed.
• Charging vehicles is a big energy draw that can cause a system overload. Dynamic load balancing is recommended as a solution that helps charge cars efficiently while still maintaining capacity for other electrical appliances and avoiding overload. 
• Consider how to charge for the electricity. Various payment methods are available, including credit cards, payment apps, and parking apps.