EV Readiness for Strata - Section 9 - Billing and Cost Recovery
Short Term Solutions for Cost Recovery
1. Use a plug-in electricity meter in a General Power Outlet (GPO) in the carpark area which plugs into an existing power outlet and then allows the owner to plug their charging cable into the plug-in electricity meter. Here is a photo of an electricity meter used at North Residences to capture electricity consumption from a Hyundai Kona through a General Power Outlet connected to common area power on the wall of the carpark area inside a storage cage. An example of an End User agreement which allows a resident to charge an electric vehicle from a general power outlet connected to the houselights/common area meter, if they supply their own power meter is here. Note: This approach in NSW can rely on s.117 of the Strata Schemes Management Act and does not require a motion or by-law to be passed at an EGM or AGM. In most strata buildings, the strata committee can approve this type of end-user or "license agreement" for cost recovery. This can also be used by tenants, solving the problem raised in this article Power Struggle: Doctor forced to sell electric car after his building denied access to powerpoint. If you are a strata representative an example of the information needed to setup your strata scheme for common area power outlet charging with cost recovery is here. If you are a tenant or owner occupier an example of a registration form for charging your EV from a common area power outlet is here. Once registered, a tenant or owner occupier can log each charge session off a common area power outlet with a form like this.
1. Use a plug-in electricity meter in a General Power Outlet (GPO) in the carpark area which plugs into an existing power outlet and then allows the owner to plug their charging cable into the plug-in electricity meter. Here is a photo of an electricity meter used at North Residences to capture electricity consumption from a Hyundai Kona through a General Power Outlet connected to common area power on the wall of the carpark area inside a storage cage. An example of an End User agreement which allows a resident to charge an electric vehicle from a general power outlet connected to the houselights/common area meter, if they supply their own power meter is here. Note: This approach in NSW can rely on s.117 of the Strata Schemes Management Act and does not require a motion or by-law to be passed at an EGM or AGM. In most strata buildings, the strata committee can approve this type of end-user or "license agreement" for cost recovery. This can also be used by tenants, solving the problem raised in this article Power Struggle: Doctor forced to sell electric car after his building denied access to powerpoint. If you are a strata representative an example of the information needed to setup your strata scheme for common area power outlet charging with cost recovery is here. If you are a tenant or owner occupier an example of a registration form for charging your EV from a common area power outlet is here. Once registered, a tenant or owner occupier can log each charge session off a common area power outlet with a form like this.
2. Use an estimated driving distances in kilometres per annum for which EV charging occurred in the building and ask the EV Owner to pay this amount to the Owners Corporation in advance of commencement of EV charging. An example based upon the average electricity rates in a particular strata building is below:
3. Use annual logs of kWh charging sessions inside the building and convert these back to a pay per km driven model
If you are looking for an example of a 'pay per km' calculation spreadsheet you can download one here. An example of a 'pay per km' agreement for the EV Owner to sign is here. Information on the different efficiency levels of different electric vehicles can be found at the Green Vehicle Guide. Information on the round trip efficiency of batteries can be found here. Note: some car companies have a policy that VIN numbers of cars should always remain private and confidential and not be recorded by strata buildings or viewable in logs of charging sessions.
4. Charge EV Owners on a 'Pay per minute' model for charging in a shared charging space
Pay per minute model is effective if there is a standard charging speed and there is an online booking system for shared car parking spaces with EV chargers. Once dynamic load balancing and variable charging speeds are implemented in a shared charging space, this approach is not recommended. If charging speeds fluctuate over time then an EV Owner who books the same amount of time in the shared car parking space may receive different amounts of energy.
Medium Term Solutions for Cost Recovery
A facilities manager/strata manager will need access to a billing system specifically for the purpose of EV charging.
Some strata management companies will offer this as a service using existing strata management software packages which they use for their practice management e.g. Stratamax.
Other strata buildings will use a local cloud-based software billing package such as Exploren, Everty, Chargefox or an international billing system such as Tesla's apartment management system which is customised to the local Australian market.
If you are looking for an example of a 'pay per km' calculation spreadsheet you can download one here. An example of a 'pay per km' agreement for the EV Owner to sign is here. Information on the different efficiency levels of different electric vehicles can be found at the Green Vehicle Guide. Information on the round trip efficiency of batteries can be found here. Note: some car companies have a policy that VIN numbers of cars should always remain private and confidential and not be recorded by strata buildings or viewable in logs of charging sessions.
4. Charge EV Owners on a 'Pay per minute' model for charging in a shared charging space
Pay per minute model is effective if there is a standard charging speed and there is an online booking system for shared car parking spaces with EV chargers. Once dynamic load balancing and variable charging speeds are implemented in a shared charging space, this approach is not recommended. If charging speeds fluctuate over time then an EV Owner who books the same amount of time in the shared car parking space may receive different amounts of energy.
Medium Term Solutions for Cost Recovery
A facilities manager/strata manager will need access to a billing system specifically for the purpose of EV charging.
Some strata management companies will offer this as a service using existing strata management software packages which they use for their practice management e.g. Stratamax.
Other strata buildings will use a local cloud-based software billing package such as Exploren, Everty, Chargefox or an international billing system such as Tesla's apartment management system which is customised to the local Australian market.
If your strata scheme has an embedded electrical network contract in place, then there can be an advantage in your Owners Corporation using the embedded electrical network company's existing billing systems for billing and cost recovery of EV charging sessions off the common area or houselights meter. However, the vast majority of our strata buildings in Australia do not have embedded electrical networks and retrofitting an embedded electrical network to a strata building has high regulatory barriers, so shouldn't be undertaken for the sole purpose of enabling EV charging in the building.
What are the different billing approaches which can be used?
-Flat rate fee per charging session
-Pay per minute of charging
-Energy consumed
-Energy consumed and duration of parking
-Energy consumed on a time of day basis and duration of parking
-Average power levels within a dynamic load balancing environment
-Peak power levels
-Strata committee member or facilities manager discount rate on energy consumed
-Free charging for VIP
For example, where an EV is booked into a shared carparking space for 2 hours there may be a charge for all the energy which is consumed, but if the charging is completed within the first hour and the EV owner leaves the car there for the 2nd hour, then a flat rate parking fee may be levied for the second hour that the EV was booked into the spot. This approach can be used to incentivise EV owners to move their car from the car parking spot as soon as their vehicle is finished charging.
Note: a combination of different billing approaches can be used within the same strata building, if this is supported by the billing software selected.
Managing Peak Demand on your Common Area Electricity Bill
For large market electricity contracts (>160MWh/100MWh consumption p.a. depending on the state), you may be on a demand tariff. EV charging may increase capacity charges at times of peak building demand. To identify if you are on one of these types of tariffs, on the common area electricity bill, you may see the following items
For example, if your strata is being charged at $0.4/kW/day for the peak demand, and the peak demand is 15kW during a 30-day period. Then the peak demand charge would be:
15kW * $0.4/kW/day * 30 days = $180
If a 16 Amp three-Phase EV charger, which requires 11kW power, is added to the common area, and it is used during the peak demand the period, then the peak demand will be increased to 26kW. The peak demand charge will be increased to:
(15kW + 11kW) * $0.4/kW/day * 30 days = $312
What are the different billing approaches which can be used?
-Flat rate fee per charging session
-Pay per minute of charging
-Energy consumed
-Energy consumed and duration of parking
-Energy consumed on a time of day basis and duration of parking
-Average power levels within a dynamic load balancing environment
-Peak power levels
-Strata committee member or facilities manager discount rate on energy consumed
-Free charging for VIP
For example, where an EV is booked into a shared carparking space for 2 hours there may be a charge for all the energy which is consumed, but if the charging is completed within the first hour and the EV owner leaves the car there for the 2nd hour, then a flat rate parking fee may be levied for the second hour that the EV was booked into the spot. This approach can be used to incentivise EV owners to move their car from the car parking spot as soon as their vehicle is finished charging.
Note: a combination of different billing approaches can be used within the same strata building, if this is supported by the billing software selected.
Managing Peak Demand on your Common Area Electricity Bill
For large market electricity contracts (>160MWh/100MWh consumption p.a. depending on the state), you may be on a demand tariff. EV charging may increase capacity charges at times of peak building demand. To identify if you are on one of these types of tariffs, on the common area electricity bill, you may see the following items
- Energy charges for the total amount of electricity used (in kWh).
- A peak demand charge based on your electricity peak demand which is the highest average 30-minute period of demand over a period is known as the peak demand, on the network.
- A fixed daily service charge.
For example, if your strata is being charged at $0.4/kW/day for the peak demand, and the peak demand is 15kW during a 30-day period. Then the peak demand charge would be:
15kW * $0.4/kW/day * 30 days = $180
If a 16 Amp three-Phase EV charger, which requires 11kW power, is added to the common area, and it is used during the peak demand the period, then the peak demand will be increased to 26kW. The peak demand charge will be increased to:
(15kW + 11kW) * $0.4/kW/day * 30 days = $312
How to avoid additional capacity charges when charging more EV's
- Avoid simultaneous use of major appliances e.g. carpark ventilation fan.
- Shift energy usage from time periods when demand tariffs are calculable.
- Install solar + battery storage or retrofit a battery system to an existing PV installation.
- Install a smart EV charging management system which would automatically avoid the charging during the peak hours.
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Strata software company embracing an EV charging future
Join Daniel Borin from Stratamax driving his Tesla Model S. Watch on Youtube |