Why Builders Should Future-Proof Developments with EV Charging Infrastructure
Electric vehicle (EV) adoption in Australia continues to grow, and new developments are already being designed with provisions for future EV charging.
But there is an important difference between providing for EV charging and making a building genuinely EV-ready.
In new apartment developments, the required electrical capacity has already been considered and EV distribution boards are installed. However, the infrastructure often stops there.
The connection is not extended through the car park, and the systems needed to support and manage future EV chargers are left for the owners corporation to organise after the building has been handed over.
For builders and developers, there is an opportunity to take that one step further.
Don’t Stop at the EV Distribution Board
Installing the required EV distribution boards is an important part of preparing a development for future EV charging.
But an EV distribution board alone doesn't make it easy for a resident to install a charger.
Once residents start buying EVs, the owners corporation may still need to work out how to bring power from those distribution boards to individual parking areas, how multiple chargers will be managed, and how residents will pay for the electricity they use.
Much of this can be made simpler by extending the EV charging backbone through the car park during construction.
This doesn't mean installing a charger in every car space.
It means putting the shared infrastructure in place so that chargers can be added progressively as residents need them.
Why Leave It Until Later?
Once the building is completed and handed over, installing that same infrastructure can become a much bigger project.
Anyone who has worked with strata knows that getting an EV charging project approved can take time.
The strata committee needs to understand the options, obtain the right quotes, compare different solutions and brands, determine how the project will be funded and agree on a preferred proposal.
It can take two or three committee meetings just to get to the right solution and quote.
The proposal then needs to go through the appropriate owners corporation approval process. Questions need to be answered, owners need to understand what they are paying for, and sometimes proposals need to be revised before everyone is comfortable moving forward.
In practice, this process can take 6–12 months, and sometimes longer.
And after all of that, the installation still needs to happen in a completed and occupied building.
Rather than leaving a future strata committee to start the process again, the development can be handed over with a clear pathway for residents to connect an EV charger when they need one. This can reduce future disruption, avoid unnecessary retrofit work and make the process considerably simpler for residents.
For buyers, it means knowing there is a practical pathway to charging an EV at home.
For strata, it means avoiding a potentially lengthy infrastructure project after handover.
And for builders and developers, it means delivering a development that is better prepared for the way Australians will increasingly live and drive.
How Future Charging Solutions Can Help
Future Charging Solutions works with builders and developers to take EV charging beyond the distribution board. We can help extend the EV charging infrastructure through the car park and put the systems in place to make future charger installations simple, manageable and scalable. And because we are vendor-independent, we aren't tied to one charger brand or technology. We can help develop a solution that suits the building today while providing flexibility for the future.