# Multi-unit dwellings present major obstacles to EV ownership



## CHARGED EVs Magazine (Nov 14, 2011)

A MUD resident faces a maze of property managers, homeowner associations, rules over use of common space, questions surrounding payment for electricity use, charger allocation among residents, and more. These factors can be absolute roadblocks, or can cost thousands of dollars to rectify... CHARGED Feature >


----------



## Caps18 (Jun 8, 2008)

Yes, this is a problem. One that could be solved by building single car garages and a second power bill...

I might still be living in an apartment if I had a good garage with storage space.


----------



## dougingraham (Jul 26, 2011)

One article I read, maybe it was this one wondered who would pay for parking lot infrastructure upgrades when there was more power being needed than facilities. This is so amazingly obvious. The power companies. They should be rushing to provide infrastructure. They are the ones who will directly benefit from the sale of the electricity. Traditionally the power industry sees a steady slow growth. EV's are a disruptive technology to them, like the internet was to the phone companies. But it is also a huge untapped market in an area they have never competed in. Retail sale of power.

A partial solution would be parking lot chargers at public transportation points. The apartment dweller drives to the public transport and plugs in. When they get back from work the vehicle is charged. All you need to be able to do is charge in the 10 hours while at work. This is not as good for the grid as charging at night but is a solution for some apartment dwellers. It would also be an opportunity for the smart grid concept to operate.


----------



## Caps18 (Jun 8, 2008)

I also have to wonder about the market research they have done. Outside of California (and even in the state), I'm not sure how big of a demand for electric cars would be? I would think electric bicycles would be the better choice.

And yes, I am wondering where the power companies are in this.


----------



## Electric Forklift Guy (Dec 13, 2012)

an


dougingraham said:


> One article I read, maybe it was this one wondered who would pay for parking lot infrastructure upgrades when there was more power being needed than facilities. This is so amazingly obvious. The power companies. They should be rushing to provide infrastructure. They are the ones who will directly benefit from the sale of the electricity. Traditionally the power industry sees a steady slow growth. EV's are a disruptive technology to them, like the internet was to the phone companies. But it is also a huge untapped market in an area they have never competed in. Retail sale of power.
> 
> A partial solution would be parking lot chargers at public transportation points. The apartment dweller drives to the public transport and plugs in. When they get back from work the vehicle is charged. All you need to be able to do is charge in the 10 hours while at work. This is not as good for the grid as charging at night but is a solution for some apartment dwellers. It would also be an opportunity for the smart grid concept to operate.


The average household in America uses 18KW-Hrs a day

An electric car uses about the same ...and most households have two cars

This wouldn't be a case of "upgrading the grid" it's more like "rip it all out and start over."

So no ...the utility companies are NOT looking forward to large numbers of electric cars on the road.


----------



## Ziggythewiz (May 16, 2010)

Electric Forklift Guy said:


> The average household in America uses 18KW-Hrs a day


More like 31.5, but who needs facts when you can just make crap up?



Electric Forklift Guy said:


> An electric car uses about the same


So if EVs need 18 kWh per day...I guess we're all driving double the national average?

The only thing the grid needs to cope with every household having an EV or two is incentives to charge at night when there is no load.


----------



## Mark C (Jun 25, 2010)

Ziggythewiz said:


> More like 11.5, but who needs facts when you can just make crap up?
> 
> I followed the link provided and {parenthesis around their quote added by me}:
> "How much electricity does an American home use?
> ...


----------



## PhantomPholly (Aug 20, 2008)

Electric Forklift Guy said:


> an
> 
> The average household in America uses 18KW-Hrs a day
> 
> ...


That isn't precisely a fair statement. Most electricity usage of a household is during the day; most charging would be at night. At some point, power companies will start putting grid storage down at neighborhood levels, and the transition to EVs is bound to be gradual. Average fleet age is around 8 years now, meaning only half of the cars on the road are replaced in 8 years - and not all will switch in the first year they buy a new car.


----------



## Ziggythewiz (May 16, 2010)

Mark C said:


> Using 30 days for the average month, I calculate 958 to be 31.93 per day.


Yes, thanks for catching my typo. I meant 31.5 kWh/day (11496/365)

The point being that EVs, even if widely adopted, would not be a huge part of the grid's power. My bill went down with the addition of the EV simply because I put in CFLs and an LCD TV about the same time.

With proper charging incentives, it will take at least a decade for EVs to put much of a dent in the night-time surpluses we currently have.


----------



## Caps18 (Jun 8, 2008)

People are using way too much power.  Even with an EV, I will still be way under the lowest 'average' of 6,252 kWh/year. I was at 1769 kWh/year and that was before I got solar panels installed on my roof, and have taken steps to reduce that amount to around 1400 kWh/year. I hope to generate around 1800-2200 kWh with my solar panel system. So it might allow me to get 2,000-4,000 miles of solar driving each year.


----------



## Ziggythewiz (May 16, 2010)

Caps18 said:


> People are using way too much power.


I'm well over the average, at least in the winter. Electric heating kinda skews the numbers though. Lots of things skew the numbers. EVs will take more power from the residential end of the grid, sure, but they'll remove a similar amount from the gasoline manufacturing end, not to mention saving that gas for something it's really needed for.


----------

