Startups aim to bring EV charging to apartment and condo dwellers

In 2015, Carter Li decided helium wanted an electrical car. He was surviving successful a condo successful downtown Toronto, and figured helium could negociate with the condo gathering to get an EV charger installed successful his parking stall if helium agreed to screen not conscionable his ain costs, but immoderate of the building's costs.

"I mean, I'm helping them upgrade their ain infrastructure," helium reasoned. "Why would they accidental 'no'?"

But the spot manager did accidental "no" — after much than fractional a twelvemonth of probe and discussions with Li. "They're like, 'This is excessively complicated. You're touching communal infrastructure. We don't privation thing to bash with this,'" helium recalled.

While a 3rd of Canadians unrecorded successful multi-residential homes similar flat and condo buildings, a 2024 online survey of much than 2,000 Canadian EV owners by the non-profit Pollution Probe recovered lone 12 per cent of those EV owners lived successful multi-residential buildings, and those that did were acold little apt to person at-home charging than those successful azygous household homes.

Many radical won't bargain an EV if they person nary spot to charge, accidental Canadian Climate Institute researchers Arthur Zhang and Anna Kunduth.

"Access to charging remains a cardinal origin connected whether, and which drivers determine to spell electric," they wrote successful a 2024 blog post.

Li realized his vexation arsenic a would-be EV proprietor successful a multi-family gathering was a communal one. So helium resolved to enactment connected a solution, co-founding a startup called Swtch Energy that aims to marque charging casual for buildings wherever galore vehicles whitethorn beryllium charging astatine once.

It's among a fistful of startups crossed Canada that are trying to supply EV charging entree for radical who unrecorded successful condos and apartments. Here's a look astatine 3 of their solutions.

A 'power vending machine'

Vancouver-based startup Parkizio Technologies has what's astir apt the simplest and lowest-tech solution, a instrumentality called Plugzio Universal Outlet.

"You tin benignant of deliberation of it arsenic a powerfulness vending machine," said Ali Mohazab, the company's co-founder and CEO.

In galore cases, a tenant oregon condo proprietor whitethorn already person a adjacent outlet, for illustration 1 designed for artifact heaters. In immoderate cases, Mohazab says, the landlord oregon spot manager won't let it to beryllium utilized for EV charging.

The Plugzio Universal Outlet is simply a astute metre that allows the landlord oregon spot manager to complaint EV owners for the energy they use, portion controlling things similar who tin charge, when, however overmuch and for what terms — addressing concerns that mightiness different marque them wary of allowing tenants to complaint their EV.

The institution says it's lone a 5th the outgo of a accepted Level 2 charger. While it lone allows for Level 1 oregon "trickle" charging – adding astir six km of scope per hr of charging – Mohazab notes that astir EVs are driven for lone abbreviated distances and parked each night.

"Level 1 charging is typically enough, I would say, for 95 per cent of people," helium said, with the objection of radical who thrust each day, specified arsenic taxi oregon Uber drivers.

'Smart Roomba for EV charging'

Abdel Ali, laminitis and CEO of Toronto-based Kiwi Charge, said helium thinks galore buildings are reluctant to instal EV chargers due to the fact that the hardware for Level 2 charging, which tin complaint a vehicle's full artillery overnight, is expensive. Meanwhile, astir buildings don't person a batch of residents with EVs, and those that bash mostly don't thrust them precise overmuch each day.

That means for each the disbursal and occupation of installing a charger for a parking spot, it's "only going to beryllium utilized a fewer hours per day," Ali said. "For the remainder of the time it's conscionable sitting idle."

Sharing chargers whitethorn beryllium much efficient, but nary 1 truly wants to travel down to plug oregon unplug their car astatine 3 a.m. truthful aggregate vehicles tin complaint overnight.

Kiwi Charge aims to supply shared chargers that determination from conveyance to conveyance automatically, acknowledgment to a robot that it hopes to commencement investigating this fall.

Ali likens it to a robot vacuum that autonomously navigates and cleans the full floor: "It's similar a astute Roomba for EV charging."

The battery-equipped robot would usage Level 3 accelerated charging to complaint a conveyance successful fractional an hour, recharge its ain artillery from the building's powerfulness supply, past determination connected to the adjacent vehicle.

"The extremity is yet to beryllium capable to complaint a antithetic conveyance each hour," Ali said.

The institution plans to trial its robots with developer Tridel successful Toronto this fall. 

So far, it has tally abbreviated pilots with a trailer-mounted mobile artillery successful the City of Vaughan and the City of Markham extracurricular Toronto. That allowed it to trial immoderate of its technology, which tin link to a car without its owner's presence. 

Ali besides envisions utilizing this lower-tech strategy — "like Uber Eats for the vehicles" — to promote EV adoption successful buildings that don't already person EV charging. The institution would deploy the robot erstwhile determination were 4 to six EV owners successful the aforesaid gathering subscribing to the service. He said that would screen the costs of installing the charging infrastructure for the robots, which would past beryllium acceptable for up to 60 further vehicles.

Ali estimates that would let a gathering to supply charging to its residents for 40 per cent of the outgo of installing Level 2 charging successful each spot.

An EV charging absorption system

Arthur Zhang, elder probe subordinate with the Canadian Climate Institute said EV charging infrastructure is mostly cheapest if the planning, appraisal and installation for an full gathering (new oregon retrofit) happens astatine erstwhile and the costs are divided by galore radical alternatively than being paid for aggregate times by aggregate individuals implicit galore years.

Carter Li, CEO of Swtch, said his institution aims to marque larger-scale deployment of EV charging cheaper and easier for gathering managers. 

Providing entree to EV charging successful an full gathering tin beryllium precise expensive, Li said. "They person to upgrade conduits, subpanels, panels and whitethorn beryllium adjacent asking for much … vigor from the utilities."

Local grids mostly person the capableness to present lone a definite magnitude of electricity, and lone allocate a definite magnitude to each building. Any gathering that needs much than that has to wage for further grid infrastructure to adhd much capableness — something that adding excessively galore EV chargers whitethorn require. That could perchance adhd millions to an EV charging installation project, Li said.

Swtch aims to lick this occupation with a scope of exertion that helps maximize the fig of EV chargers that tin beryllium installed with existing electrical infrastructure oregon insignificant upgrades.

It does this with exertion that tin power and set the velocity and timing of charging for aggregate EVs to trim the interaction connected some the building's electrical strategy and different appliances, specified arsenic vigor pumps.

Building owners (or a radical of condo owners) wage a monthly subscription and either bargain oregon rent the chargers. Swtch manages everything, including billing the idiosyncratic for the energy and remitting the fees to the gathering owners.

So far, Li said, it has deployed much than 20,000 complaint ports crossed North America  — astir 60 per cent of them successful Canada, successful multi-family residential and commercialized buildings successful astir large cities.

Zhang said it's uncertain whether solutions similar these tin get "to scale," but helium thinks it's bully that companies are exploring alternatives to accepted charging infrastructure successful places wherever it whitethorn beryllium challenging to install. "It surely opens up the options," helium said. "I bash deliberation that it's encouraging."