Successfully retrofitting electric vehicle chargers into any existing leasehold development is littered with potential pitfalls and Henry Moore Court in Chelsea was no different.
The directors of the resident management company had made good progress in many areas including reviewing the lease provisions and assessing the available power at the local transformer but needed a solution with very specific characteristics.
Background.
The site had considerable electrical upgrades in recent years due to issues with the power at the site tripping out. As a consequence, the residents were keen to ensure that adding an EV system didn’t facilitate a return of these problems.
EV Solutions Group worked in close collaboration with the sites managing agent, Lornham Ltd, and we created a solution that fulfilled all of their requirements.
The solution
Firstly, the EV system included an additional distribution board, operating independently from the rest of the electric network, and with each charger having its own trip switch. We also implemented a system that load balances at two points, so providing 3 separate fail-safe points, to prevent any issues with the EV chargers taking out the electricity supply to the whole development.
We elected to install Easee chargers at the site due to their load-balancing capabilities and overall reliability, but also because they provide charging at 22kW’s. By way of comparison, almost all freehold households will be restricted to 7.4 kW charging as this is the maximum a single phase, 100 AMP supply (as is common to most houses) can supply. We were able to utilise the existing 3-phase power supply to install powerful 22kW chargers ensuring the maximum possible charging speeds and future-proofing the development.
We also worked with the sites existing IT provider to expand the wi-fi network. This allows EV solutions to invoice individual leaseholders for their use of electricity (as the electricity is taken from the landlords supply) and replenish the communal electricity account. Any system that DOESN’T do this will almost certainly be in breach of both the lease and section 19 of the landlord and tenants act 1985 (as it would be unreasonable for leaseholders to pay for the electricity used by electric vehicle users).
Finally, EV Solutions obtained grant funding for the infrastructure (cabling to 14 spaces) and the chargers (13 were installed) through the Office for Zero Emissions Vehicles (OZEV). EV Solutions Group is a registered OZEV project manager (installer number EVHS 10886).