EV charging support for high rise apartments

My interview with Plugin India : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Ci3OD7I7t4

Lot of apartment residents are facing similar issues. Some are using political influence and some are getting resident’s support and installing a private socket while some are giving up. I am taking a legal route.

Please sign the petition and create awareness.

This really needs to happen. Thanks for doing this! We need to push the government to come out with some regulation that deters societies from refusing to allow private charging points just because they missed the train and don’t understand the concept anymore.

As one of the first successful brands in this space in India, it would be really good if Ather could spearhead such an effort and rally support for it from owners & enthusiasts. I believe it was broached many times on the forum earlier too, but never got an official statement from Team Ather. Hope they tell us what their position in this effort is.

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Ather has made a list of documents and other stuff which can help people convince thier housing societies. In Bengaluru,they also have a list of documents from BESCOM( not sure of the name of their electricity board) which can help people to convince.

Yeah true. The conversation stopped there last time around. But I feel it is essential we go beyond this and actually build some momentum eventually (yes, this will surely take time) to raise awareness among apartments that they are on shaky legal grounds if they continue to push back against EV owners setting up points within their assigned parking areas.

What documents exist today just talk of HOW the installation works and WHY this is safe, but I don’t think there is a lot of government circulars stating it is recommended for apartment associations to provide necessary support for such installations, per se. Wondering if any of the recent EV promotion releases of the central government has such English…

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Now THIS is exactly the kind of push from government that we need! Such announcements will be handy to hold in front of apartment associations’ faces moving forward.

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In my society, what they have done is allocated 2 common meters for EV charging. Whatever the bill comes get divided between the users of the meter. I had one of the meters modified specifically for 2 wheeler. Since i am the only one with EV 2 wheeler in my society yet, I don’t have to share the bill. If your society supports 4 wheeler ev charging then this can be one of the workarounds

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Some curious questions…

  • How does a meter differ for a 2-wheeler or a 4-wheeler? Can you post some pictures?
  • How many users share the charging points? Does each one get enough time to charge vehicles fully?
  • How big is your apartment complex? Is there a plan how to go about sharing as EVs increase in your own apartment?
  • Isn’t just sharing among the users be unfair for someone who didn’t use it say for a long period of time? (I understand it’s better than not allowed to charge at all)

Common charging points are a shortsighted approach that will not work in the log term IMO. But it is still better than adamant apartment associations who just won’t allow EV charging stations.

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There were initially 2 meters for 4 wheeler charging. After my request they alloted one of them to me and made it a dedicated charger for 2 wheeler.

As of now there is no other 2 wheeler EV. so, it’s just me.

I don’t have the number but it’s more than 1K. So, it’s pretty big.

It is unfair but for that you gotta notify the admin that you will not be using the meter. That’s how they are tracking. It’s not ideal but that’s still better than no charging at all… Ideally they should give every parking a point from their own apartment but, clearly, that’s not a priority for the builders.

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I am planning to not bother talking to my owner at all regarding power socket request or Ather DOT installation. I am quite sure it will not go my way or the way of logic.

My plan now is to drop a wire from third floor to the parking basement. I have a straight line of view with very less obstacles. I am hoping 16 mtrs of wire is sufficient (assuming 4mtrs per floor length plus additional 4 mtrs for buffer).

Please suggest if there is any special wiring i need to purchase. My plan now is to buy 20 mtrs normal PVC wire.

Whether i should get 2 core or 3 core wire and does it matter?. Also understand that the thickness of the wire varies starting from 0.50 sqmm and higher. Any recommendation for this as well.

One end of the wire will connect to a 5A plug to fit into nearest socket at my main door. The other end of the wire with a 15A socket (or 5A socket will do?). The Ather portable charger will go into this 15A socket. Is this plan okay?

Please advice. Thank you.

You will need a 3 core wire. Since grounding is very important. My electrician suggested for 2.5sqmm.

Portable charger requires 15A socket. So I guess the plan is good.

If your electricity meter board is near your parking area you can get a connection form your house electricity meter.

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Thanks for your kind reply.

But that would require the wiring to be permanent from the electricity meter. I don’t think i can leave it hanging in the basement all day long with a 15A socket lying in public. Nobody will use it hopefully but still would be an eye sore for the owner plus tinkering with the meter for the additional wiring.

If i take the line all the way from third floor, I can lift the entire wire and socket if required or just switch off the socket from my home itself.

Do we need to get our sanctioned load updated or something at BESCOM for home if I install the Dot charger? Haven’t come across this answer anywhere. @abhishek.balaji @Suraj_madhu have this info?

The DOT charger draws lesser power (700w) than my microwave!.

So no! You don’t need to get any additional load sanctioned.

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I was going to type the same! Maybe its us users, who realise , that our scooter barely draws any current in comparison to other gadgets at our home… hence the fear of unknown! :grin:

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We need an Charging Point outside our Society/ Complex/ Area. What is the procedure for same…can anybody tell me???

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Reach out to the team at athergrid@atherenergy.com

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I have Mailed them… No Response Yet… Its almost 2 Months Completed…

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Check out this post for a possible solution:

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All societies have problems with something or the other. There is always that one uncle (sometimes more than one) in every society who objects to anything and everything you do. There is one such guy in our society too. Thankfully our society is made up of Duplex Villas with dedicated parking so they can’t do anything if I install a charger. Some of the common excuses given by societies for objecting to charging of EVs.

  • It will cause a fire in the building.
  • Everyone’s bill will increase (even if your point is connected to your own meter).
  • EVs cause more pollution than ICE vehicles.
  • Children playing in parking area will get a shock.
  • EVs can steal other people’s 4G & Wifi data for OTA updates.
  • EV charging will damage appliances like TVs of other residents.
  • Government will increase electricity charges if people use EVs.
  • People may indulge in “other” activities in the vehicle while it’s charging (specially for 4 wheeler EVs with dark glasses).
  • Charging an EV will put excess load on the transformer causing it to burn and the whole localaity will be without power for days.
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Hi @abhishek.balaji and Team, I live in a gated society and my appartment currently have a electricity meter which can support upto 3KW of load. Do i need to go and ask my Electricity board to increase the rating from 3 to 5 or 6KW to avoid any drip of connection!? Please respond ASAP.

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