In 2024, the committee received a proposal from our embedded supplier, Altogether. The cost of implementing the proposal was $570,000, comprising $10,000 for charger installation and a $69,000 annual fee to the owners' corporation. The committee rejected this, and a survey also indicated that the installation cost per charger was prohibitively expensive. Additionally, an expensive upgrade would be necessary to accommodate future EV ownership.
At this stage, the committee put the EV charging search on hold in search of a financially viable solution.
This page contains the following sections:
Ready Steady Plug Proposal - EV Charging - Level 1 / Power points - What the proposal is and what sort of charging will be available.
ReadySteadyPlug - Owners Corporation (OC) Perspective - How this affects and will be managed by the OC
Capital Improvement - How the availability of EV charging is a capital improvement to the building.
Funding Model - How the electricity and electrical equipment will be funded.
Insurance Implication - What effect does this have on insuring the building?
For detailed information, see: Ready Steady Plug Presentation and the video below.
ReadySteadyPlug have a government grant which allows us to install EV charging at very economical rates. This grant requires us to respond by August 6, 2025, to obtain the pricing described in Funding Model Below.
This new proposal allows for the inclusion of 15-AMP power points, giving a charging rate of 3.2 kW. This means that for the average electric car, you can expect approximately 20 km of range per hour of charging.
The proposed pricing** has been suggested as follows (see Pricing Model below):
15 Amp GPO Power point installation: $1,640
Electricity charge: $0.37***per kWh
All charges will be collected by ReadySteadyPlug, which includes the cost of electricity and a surplus that will be passed back to the Owner Corporation to cover its expenses (see Funding Model below).
Notes:
** Pricing is based on update of 10 power points.
*** Electricity charges include the cost of running the system to enable management of charging.
Given that the average vehicle is driven around 11,000 km, this has the following practical implications.
Per week, this is 210 km, requiring 10.6 hours of charging.
If you use the car at 7:30 am, you would need to plug in at 8:20 pm the previous night to achieve a weekly charge.
This is more convenient and cost-effective compared to using DC fast charging (Level 3).
The load management function of the proposal may cycle charging around if the building load is high (e.g., a hot day and everyone's AC is on). The advice we have is that this will be infrequent and that there is sufficient capacity in the existing electrical system.
For your reference, Level 1 charging at 3.2 kW is half the rate of the base level for Level 2 charging (7 kW), taking twice as long to charge.
Some cars are supplied with 10AMP charging cables. Here is a suggestion for a 15A cable (click on the box next to Description to see details) and a cable lock mechanism to secure it.
One drawback of the system is that it requires a network connection to initiate charging. Due to the limited mobile reception in the basement, you will need to be within mobile range to turn on your power point. You can see the charging rate on the App to have confidence that the session has started.
If you would like the PowerPoint, it is available as described above.
See the full proposal: ReadySteadyPlug Proposal (confidential) .
The following features of ReadySteadyPlug's offering are viable and sustainable for our building:
Load Management - This enables us to share the available capacity for peak usage, such as air conditioning and plant equipment.
Sustainability - The combination of capacity and lower charging speeds means that the building will be able to handle growth in demand.
Cost* - The annual cost of the system is $1,800 (ex GST) per annum, $5,000 (ex GST) for installation, and 0.13¢ per kWh (inc GST, in addition to our house power rates, ~0.17¢). This is made possible by the financing that ReadySteadyPlug has taken to package pricing in this manner.
Installation cost per charge is $990 (ex GST)
* The proposal contains costs that do not incorporate grant. The figures above have been provided as an alteration to the original proposal.
The costing model is the opposite of what was previously offered by Altogether, with the cost of installing the system being less than the original proposal cost for a single charger.
The key difference is that this offering only allows for "Level 1 Charging".
As ReadySteadyPlug is a new company, we have asked them to outline the implications if they are no longer able to provide service (e.g., the company ceases to function). Their answer, in this case, was that the service would most likely be handed over to another company, or, in the worst case, the OC would need to find an alternative solution for metering and billing (all wiring work would still be usable). Since the infrastructure is provided as a service, this limits our exposure as we do not need to pay the full cost of the installation upfront.
The committee has looked at a similar offer from Alchemy Charge. We have rejected this additional cost and the associated reliability concerns as it requires a Wifi connection.
The installation of EV charging in the building is a capital improvement that will benefit all building owners. The availability of power for the charging of vehicles will make the unit more attractive to EV owners. (See for illustration: https://www.realestate.com.au/news/why-electric-cars-will-supercharge-property-prices/ and https://www.realestate.com.au/news/cheltenham-auction-charges-ahead-after-owners-add-electric-vehicle-connection-before-selling/ )
According to the Australian Automobile Association, between 1 January 2025 and 31 March 2025, 10.5% of car sales were chargeable (BEV, PHEV). (see https://www.aaa.asn.au/research-data/electric-vehicle/ and select 'Last Quarter').
The National Construction Code requires that all new apartment complexes be equipped with infrastructure that allows for the installation of EV Charging facilities. In NSW, this requirement was adopted in 2023 (see https://evse.com.au/blog/national-construction-code-class-2-building-apartment-charging-requirements-2023/).
This pricing includes the cost of installing the required infrastructure, as well as managing the load to avoid peak electricity charges. The electricity charge covers the additional monitoring required to maintain peak load, payment for installation of equipment and billing costs.
The pricing above assumes an initial installation of 10 users with a shortfall that would require an additional user to sign up for the year. The pricing model attempts to make the charging infrastructure user-pay.
The pricing model may be adjusted based on the survey responses, following a review in one year. Factors such as the acceptability of the charging, the appreciation of the capital investment and the number of orders may affect the final pricing.
You can view a spreadsheet detailing the costing model here .
Please refer to the Insurance Council of Australia document Charging Ahead: Electric Vehicles & Insurance.
According to this report, research shows that fires in road-registered Electric Vehicles (EVs) are less common than in internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles. However, while the frequency is low, when EV battery fires do occur, they are considered potentially high-consequence events that must be managed differently and may require more time and resources to extinguish.
Below is advice from our insurance broker (Honan) as provided by our Strata Manager:
"“We advise that having EV's in terms of insurance, the insurers see them as the same of having a petrol or diesel vehicle. While they may take a bit longer to put out, it would be same type of fire damage. We have had this question raise several times and that it what Honan has stated.” (email to Strata Commitee Wed, Jun 4, 5:15 PM, subject "Meeting minutes, EV Insurance Enquiry")
Insurance companies are required to address the implications of electric vehicles (EVs), as, according to the Australian Automobile Association, between 1 January 2025 and 31 March 2025, 27% of vehicle sales were electric (Hybrid, BEV, PHEV - see https://www.aaa.asn.au/research-data/electric-vehicle/ and select 'Last Quarter'). Regarding the increased risk of fire while charging, the following reference indicates that their research shows 15% of EV fires occurred when the vehicle was charging, and the emphasis should be on the charging system, which does not apply to this solution (reference https://www.evfiresafe.com/research-ev-fire-charging ).
Other references:
Insurance Council of Australia Managing fire risk from electrified transport in residential buildings
Insurance Council of Australia Safety measures for e-scooter and e-bike owners
CHU (our insurer) Risk Wise Fact Sheet: Electric Vehicles and Charging Stations - Considerations for the Body Corporate (Note: This addresses chargers, not powerpoints although there is some overlap).