As a consultant engineer who as part of our provided services designs EVC installations to go into new build flatted developments I can say that to do this properly, all above board and correct in every manner is very difficult. Something many people overlook is a privately owned cable going through common areas. You are then into the realms of legal requirements to put in place the right agreements to allow the cable to go through common areas. The next issue is safe isolation, if the cable is protected from the private dwelling and someone in the future is working within a riser etc. you must provide safe isolation within the common area. Another thing to consider is that this development probably has an ADMD of 2kVA per flat, what happens when infrastructure designed for a far smaller load has to start accepting EVC connections into multiple flats? Where the developer wants to include EVC, generally we put a feeder pillar in the carpark and it is adopted by a back office service such as one Rolex run, to pay the bills, meter the power and invoice the user accordingly, basically it sucks to have a EV and live in a flat where you might find you cannot just have your own power supply to your own EVC.
Having your own supply to your own bay has all sorts of issues down the line if the owner of the bay doesn't have a vehicle and wants to rent it out. Using a communal/landlords supply to disassociate the parking bay from the property makes the most sense - just use a freely available payment gateway (eg. "Tap Electric") that reimburses the owner of the communal supply for the EV usage and everyone is happy. The owner of the communal supply doesn't need to know or care who uses the chargepoints, just leave that to the payment gateway to worry about.
another possible way of doing it could be to maybe replace the fused isolators in the service cupboard with a small 2 way fuse board, feed the flat with 63A (the flats appear to be fed in 16mm² T&E so 80A is pushing it a bit anyway) then 32A for the charger, if surge protection is being fitted then will need a slightly bigger board 4 maybe 5 way, suppose depends on the space you may have available, definitely think the Easee Chargers are the right option for this install too!
@@nzer19 As the owner of an Easee One charger I have contacted Easee twice. Both times via their website and both times have had a response within hours. Can't understand why you would have a problem.
After some extra information on current Government funding for these types of property check out our 8 At 8 video here 👉🏼 th-cam.com/video/BXdSa5PC_QM/w-d-xo.html
This was FANTASTIC. Although not in the UK, it gave me some great background info in moving forward with electric vehicle charging, which I hope to do in the future. Nice one!
well explained Jordan, we recently done a similar job and found that moving the electrical meters downstairs to be an easier option to running cabling externally from the building.
Concern from the routing I have is taking supplies from one property through another. Going through landlords is one thing but going through another dwelling I wouldn’t recommend. That would all need agreement and would recommend clear labelling of where cables fed from at more than just each end, where visible in loft of apartments
Absolutely. If flat had exclusive use of loft space above it, may need to vary terms of lease to run another flat's cable through it. Else next owner could just remove it.
This video has been invaluable. I live in a block of flats on the third floor, and my neighbour has a Tesla, and I have a Phev. Would be good to chat with you guys about it sometime.
For setups like these, someone should make a switchfuse unit which also provides a second output via a DP RCD, so you could effectively split the flat's tails without needing much more space in the distribution area.
That DNO supply head looks like it has additional unprovisioned capacity. Would suspect the DNO could upgrade the management company's supply to a 3-phase relatively easily in this property. Could then put in a 3-phase board and some faster chargers all fed from the main DB using back office billing. Probably wouldn't even need to go into the flats.
I was thinking this. Why not just run them all from that meter cupboard. You can still run each charger off each flat's feed so you don't have to mess about with a billing system, but now the cables all run together from the single point without having to do seperate cabling in each flat. If the supply needed to switched off for maintenance of some kind in the future it makes it easier if the switches are all there together as well.
So basically in a flat with air-source, heat-pump heating, electric cooking and an electric shower - the only allowable EV would be a Scalextric (at the lower speeds only)
@@alanhat5252 which creates its own problems. If all 118 of the flats in my complex move to 3-phase, with electric air-source heating and EV chargers, then the small (half-garage sized) substation that services our flats would need to be upgraded to twice what it currently is (if not more). Problem there is that the land simply doesn't exist to allow such an upgrade. We would either need the council demolish the local swimming baths, or six (or more) residents would need to completely sacrifice their parking bays.
@@skfalpink123 that's an interesting conundrum. My first thought is that if your current substation is single-phase (I find this unlikely) it would be trebled to add the other 2 phases which would probably add sufficient extra capacity without increasing the scale of any component. My next thought is to question why the substation is on-site at all given that they can fail in a most spectacular manner, possibly leading to a Grenfell-style style scenario. How far away is the nearest sensible alternative site for a substation? Modern electronics can replace transformers, drastically reducing the footprint & adding management capabilities like Voltage control & selective circuit switching, I believe they're cheaper too.
The red fuses mean that the supply is fused elsewhere. Its not the fuse in the switchfuse which protects it. There is individual fuses in the service head! Which is why the head is so big and wide!!
You mentionead the EasEE charger with a back-office system to run from the landlord's supply or more likely a dedicted one, but does the EasEE have the required MID approved metering required if charging people for electricity? Also, you mentioned adding to the electricity price to cover costs, AIUI this is illegal for general use ( e.g. landlord charging tenant) unless you are a licensed supplier - is this different for EV charging?
Don't Wallbox do a system that satisfies this? They are controlled/monitored by a Commander unit.
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In Belgium with our very strange tax system, your employer is encouraged to pay a part of your salary in the form of giving you a leasing car and pay for all the fuel (!). When EV became a thing, the charging point manufacturers immediately made a consortium and defined an open standard for communcation between charging points and a back-office system : the OCPP protocol. The charging point are of course equipped with MID approved metering. There is a free market for back-office services. Usually for a company car the back-office is configured to have your company refund your home electricity costs needed to charge the company car. I think about all EV charging points sold in Belgium have MID metering and are OCPP compliant. Beware domestic installations in Belgium are always TT with local earth so the protection is more simple than in UK from that point of view (no PEN fault detection stuff here).
My understanding is that the rule about reselling having to be at cost only applies to supplies for domestic use. I'm pretty sure a public EV charger doesn't count as domestic use, but I have no idea how a charger in a block of flats would be treated.
I spent 2 years arguing with and then replacing my factor so I could just ask my fellow owners if we can install a charger in our space. Finally got the vote and have approval. Also going to the Easee charger for the 4g connection and fortunately there is a run from our 4th floor flat down to the bin store that's 8m from our space. The only real issue is having a trench dug for the final part of the run. All in with grant it's £2,500 for us to get the install but something I feel confident we would get back from the sale of the property in the future.
@@aljames7345 Sounds like a challenging situation but we'll done for persevering with it. Maybe you can get some others I the building to join in with it. If you got 10 installed rather than 1 I'm sure the cost each would be lower.
Ask the DNO to upgrade the single phase Landlords supply into a three phase supply? And fit a 3phase CU in riser above? And do the back office payments etc. Looks like there are spare ways from that 'grey box' - thats a Lucy multi service distribution board, MSDB. Saves faffing around with multiple flat CUs and the routes. MSDB- from left to right; first 3 ways are L1, next 3 are L2, and L3 gets the next 4, looks to be a spare one of each 😁 Nice vid. Cheers for the content👍
This was really interesting. One of the reasons I moved to a house from a flat is that the management company didn't want to install EV chargers, but that was before the grants for more than 5 spaces (the whole development would have about 50 spaces) so maybe they'd be more receptive now. If I ever look at moving into a flat, I might run this video by them if they aren't into the idea. However, since I'm still renting, I went for a charging solution where I can take the charging infrastructure with me. I have a commando (blue) socket installed and an Ohme Go charger to charge the car. When I leave, I can just bring the charger with me, and the cabling for the socket I can cheaply get removed and move to the new house (Unless the landlord decides to pay me what I spent on installation).
Interesting video, I live in a block of 9 flats and as an owner have a directors share of the management company and its financial affairs, what's not so great about the £850 per parking spot is the electricity from the management meter supply, I doubt that would be fed on the 7p tariff unlike my own consume unit through my own supplier, so any saving of the £850 compared to the £350 would be lost in a matter of months due to higher cost of tariff per KWH on the management supply. Correct me if 'm wrong.
I live in a small apartment block. We are considering installing EV system and found Jordans explanation incredibly informative. I am sure their are many pitfalls however the issues requiring consideration are clearly laid out. It's a pity for us that Artisan are not on Solihull? Keep up the great work.
In Germany we have meter cabinets installed in the utility room of apartment buildings with enough space (DIN rails) above the meters to mount the backup-fuses for the consumer units and three-phase RCDs and MCBs for EV chargers there. Of course there are also challenges to run the cables to the charging points, but it is a lot easier to get the power from one place instead of the individual flats. That also prevents the expenditure of providing a billing system, if every parking space belongs to a specific flat.
There will be main dno fuses inside the main 3 phase incomer. These may well be 60A. The switchfuses are there as the meter tails exceed 3m, they belong to the customer, not the dno.
Great Video thanks for making it. You were talking about grants but said you needed 5 for biggest grant. Could you make it 5 by simply adding one charger on building visitor parking spot and on landlords circuit.
Thanks for a very interesting video! When you have the opportunity please could you do a video for a large block of flats where running cables (power or data) from each flat to the parking spaces just isn't feasible. Lots of people will be in this sort of situation who'd like to get an electric vehicle, but getting a charging point installed seems really difficult. Many thanks.
From a technical point that's actually a really easy case, there are a number of chargers (like the aforementioned easee) that are designed to be connected in groups of up to one hundred to one supply and then meter the usage. The real issue there is to get the management company/landlord to have those installed, manage them and handle the billing. Sadly this is nothing an electrician can help you with. But we are approaching the point where landlords will realise that trying to rent out a parking space without a charger is the same as trying out a flat without a bathroom. In about 30 years, when EVs make 80+% of all cars on the street...
@@HenryLoenwind look at Tap Electric for "free" (transaction fee only) billing - they're an Easee partner, and don't charge a monthly per chargepoint subscription (plus transaction fee) like Monta, Fuuse etc.
I've been after a point at my property for ages but always hit a brick wall when it comes down to getting approval from the landlord, without it costing easily £400-£500. Then theres the cost of having the point installed. The best option I found was PodPoints Apartments system, but the cost is still insane. New flats are not built for EV charging at all. I've given up.
Another Q around funding... could they have had FIVE charging points - 4 with actual chargers (£850) and then one that came off the landlord supply that was just provisioned? That way they'd get the max funding and also have a spare zone in case they ever extended the car park, or made the bays slightly thinner to fit more parking?
This is a very timely video! How do you cope when there is no wall to which to attach the charging point? E.g. the wall belongs to someone else or - as in my case - the parking bay is across a pavement from the flat (so a pedestal is also out). You also mentioned that you can only get the grant if you have an EV, but that's a chicken-and-egg situation: many people won't get an EV without also having a charging point installed simultaneously, and there are long lead times for vehicles. So is there any flexibility on the installation time and having an EV time?
This might be a dumb question as an American, but is there not "guest" parking? They could install 5 chargers and have the one extra for guests, and either use a public charging network (ChargePoint here in the US) or allow the guest charger to use any resident's RFID card. That seems like it would greatly simplify getting the grant and the work completed.
If there is guest parking it would be simpler to still have the 4 chargers 1 per apt and just have a guest who needed to charge park in the residents spot and the resident in the guest spot. Also avoids the issue of the LL having to pay full install cost for what would presumably be a very infrequently used residents charger.
@@stupot_64 That would be clever right? A major developer we do M&E design for simply assigns it to one of the bays, then lets the residents fight for it. I am not joking.
@@peterpeterson9903 ... while you could let the neighbors fight over it, who pays the utility bill if they start using it? OTOH, I suppose the landlord could just flip the breaker off till it's sorted out.
From an aerial installer you would have to be careful running high current cables parallel to the aerial cables on the cable tray in that riser cupboard, as it could cause a lot of interference.
Just a small correction Jordan... The protection is inside the 3ph service head box below the redhead units. The switchfuses are to protect the cables to the flats :)
Very useful thank you. I live in a second floor flat with consumer unit in the flat and the meter on the ground floor. I have had two survey quotes done and neither mentioned the consumer unit and the need to run cables from it, yet in your video you will be doing just that. Is there a way to avoid having a wired connection between the consumer unit and the meter? Thanks
Great videos and straight forward important information. Im from New Zealand and some things are similar but seeing the chargers and features are the best tips to take away. Interesting that you didn't mention a new connection to the street grid for this?
I live in a terraced house (tenant), and both my supply and CU are inside the property, in a cupboard under the stairs. The floor is all concrete, and access to the top floor from that cupboard is very limited. It's absolutely impossible to pull the cable in any reasonable hidden way beside just dropping it through the living room, and then go outside via my landlord's garden and then to our small dedicated parking lot. So, I'm never getting a proper charger in this building, despite it being only 15y old 😪
This only works if..... 1. One lives in private apartment/flats. 2. One has assigned parking spots. 3. One has permission from landlord 4. One does not live in high rise block. 5. One does not live in Social/Council Housing. 6. None of the above resolves Real World range anxiety, I drive an ICE Petrol Mercedes which gets a guaranteed 350 mile/tank not upto 350 miles dependent on using lights/heater/Rado/heated screens etc. 7. More cost on top of the purchase/lease of an EV. So many issues with owning an EV including the UK only has 5% excess electricity on the grid overall. Using the 'Green Agenda' to justify owning an EV does not work as most of the UK Electricity is not Green power. All the above comes from someone who would switch to an EV tomorrow if all of the above issues were eradicated.
EV ownership is going to become a lot more expensive. The government cannot go without the petrol/diesel duty and tax going into the coffers. They have already talked about separate meters for domestic and EV charging. Road charging based on your 'car' calling home and telling whoever how many miles you did and was it congested. They will take the money right out of your bank
One of the biggest things to consider which I don't belived was mentioned is that from a user point of view it would likely be advantageous to have it connected to your supply rather than the landlord supply as you can choose the rate of the supply (for example have cheaper overnight rates etc).
probably just the way it's usually done... with fire rated caulk and conduit for penetrations. A job like this will absolutely need to be inspected when finished.
Four sub-switchboards can be placed in the cupboard on the ground floor. In sub-switchboards, we can separate the cables to the charger and home. And install fuses, RCDs, etc. As a result, there will be less voltage drop on the wires.
How would we get a charger with on road parking. Our road has no off road parking and 20 cars on any given day. Most days you can’t get out side my house.
@@stupot_64 could be and then with rfid badge that each tenant would have could be charged to their account on some daily rate. Seems plausible anyway.
Why not install a smaller (garage) consumer unit with surge protection in the supply cupboard for each dwelling, instead of running cables all the way up to the flat? I used to be a Wylex rep and would have thought that this would be the easier option? Good video by the way.
Interesting, I hadn't really thought it being reasonably feasible to run power from the apartments themselves but... sure, then (at least for this kind of low-rise). At least it's straightforward for the billing part.
Very interesting. Obviously electric vehicle infrastructure is a lot more advanced in the UK than it is where I now live Qld Australia. Still not big here yet. The scale of the country and the distances involved and let's face it the urban travel capabilities of most of the current electric vehicles make them not viable in a lot of situations. Plus the things are still stupidly dear considering what they are. Another factor here is how green is running an electric vehicle if your power is coming from coal. But enjoyed watching what is happening in my old home.
😂 😂 Nice little safety check on the main buzz bar with the he power on. Even if it is a insulated screwdriver, noticed on more than a few videos someone pokes around a live consumer unit.
Another question... If one grant covers 5 charging points and gives double the grant money. Why not do 4 for the flats and one public with a back office payment system, like you were talking about? Is the cost of that system more than the difference of the grant money? Because in my mind it would be a win win. Get more grant money and be able to charge for the public parking charger.
Did you ensure the owner of that wall the red Mazda was agreed the charger can go on it also if the owner of the flat there if not the owner of the red car is hauling with the clonking of the connectors ?
Really interesting and useful for those of us in flats, especially as I'm in flats with a few large buildings and possibility of the home owners association putting in five or more units in some of the shared parking spaces. Unfortunately, none of the spaces have walls nearby so then it's a case of how much extra does it cost for pedestal installs and are there any that actually look good in a garden setting with grass areas near the parking bays. I can imagine a lot of people being upset by the look of some of those poles and huge black boxes. Ideally, the charger would be something telescopic that disappeared into the ground when not in use! Maybe one day.
Pedestals are cheap enough it’s realy the digging of trenches do cable runs etc . All the pedestals need is like a 600x600x600 hole filled with concrete ( approx)
@@makg4655 There are pre-made foundations that just need to be lowered into the ground, but yes, that size is about right. And, nettlesoup, multi-unit chargers are usually not "big black boxes", just google for the aforementioned easee chargers.
I believe you said these were owned by separate tenants (leasehold) rather than the landlord for the whole block, so how is it acceptable to run another flats supply through another’s loft space ? The fence looks to be owned by residents of other properties, the brick wall you want to fix the chargers to looks to be owned by someone else (possibly a garage), all of these issues need to be addressed first. Looks a nightmare install though, good luck.
I would have thought that a wayleave would need to be obtained from the lease holder of the flat that will have two cables going through their loft. Whether there is a charge for the wayleave or not will be up to the leaseholders to discuss between themselves.
6:12 why not put a "henly block' in after that main switch fuse, then you won't have to bother wireing via the attic of every flat back down To the ground
Hi I own my flat. The company managing the block of flats does not care about EV charging point. We are 12 flats but I'm the only EV owner. I have parking space plus a garage (without electricity inside). Can you please tell me what I should do? We pay thousands of pounds to maintain 2 big gardens that nobody uses, apart from the cat.
In that install, was the landlord supply not fused? You pointed out it has a red head in the DNO termination, but it didn’t appear to go via its own switched fuse holder. Just curious if that’s ok?
The main fuses are in the main multi service cutout below so it's fused in there it's only accessed by the DNO the red links are for meter operators so it's fused before the red links
Looks like an ideal scenario for thieves to steal all the exterior exposed cabling that will appear if charging points become the norm .That surely will be a major problem in the future .
The power consumption calculation seems strange to me In my house I have a 20A microwave circuit, 32A cooker circuit, 32A hob circuit, and 32A car charger... but a 100A main fuse? Even before considering any lights or sockets, garage door, security system, fire alarm etc it seems to me like I could feasibly draw nearly 120A just by cooking while charging the car. Should I be concerned?
If the parking is nowhere near the flats then they need a separate power supply, but installer prices never allow for this and the management company and land owner have to give permission and won't.
For that long run, is there a reason to not split the flat's tails in the cupboard ? Seems like it would be significantly cheaper than a long run of 10mm SWA.
I would guess cause you would bypass the 80A fuse? Maybe a small consumer unit for each flat to replace the fuses with an SPD, an 80mcb which then feeds a 63A mcb for the flat and a 32 rcbo for the car charger? Lots of different ways to do the job, doesnt mean one way is better than another..
@@mikeselectricstuff Sorry, looked like T&E after the fuse, thats what confused me, but your right, go from the fuse up into the cupboard above where there was lots of space to put consumer units for each flats..
i got a quotation for my 3 flat tower (with 3 phase) that I should get a new circuit and distribution board setup from the main switch after the meter (instead of getting the cable to the in-house MCB), which do you think is the best approach? new MCB from meter or getting it from the home?
Thanks for this video, as a flat owner it’s been very educational in terms of the practicalities but being in Scotland I’m not sure how relevant the regulatory side is. I’m in the unfortunate position of having the furthest space from the block for flats so good to know it is doable, albeit going EV is are the furthest thing from my mind at the moment!
It probably is not doable is the thing. You would not be able to freely run a cable through any common areas without a lot of red tape. Find my comment on this video in the comments section and you will receive some insight.
Would I be right in suggesting that the landlord supply wouldn’t be protected by the government unit price cap too as it’s a commercial property / supply?
Just check the brick wall is owned by flats not neighbour as you can’t just attach it to someone else’s wall. Reason I mentioned this is part of the wall is neighbours garage and you would need their authority
Request a quote from Artisan Electrics here - app.openquote.net/company/artisanelectrics
As a consultant engineer who as part of our provided services designs EVC installations to go into new build flatted developments I can say that to do this properly, all above board and correct in every manner is very difficult.
Something many people overlook is a privately owned cable going through common areas. You are then into the realms of legal requirements to put in place the right agreements to allow the cable to go through common areas. The next issue is safe isolation, if the cable is protected from the private dwelling and someone in the future is working within a riser etc. you must provide safe isolation within the common area. Another thing to consider is that this development probably has an ADMD of 2kVA per flat, what happens when infrastructure designed for a far smaller load has to start accepting EVC connections into multiple flats?
Where the developer wants to include EVC, generally we put a feeder pillar in the carpark and it is adopted by a back office service such as one Rolex run, to pay the bills, meter the power and invoice the user accordingly, basically it sucks to have a EV and live in a flat where you might find you cannot just have your own power supply to your own EVC.
Having your own supply to your own bay has all sorts of issues down the line if the owner of the bay doesn't have a vehicle and wants to rent it out. Using a communal/landlords supply to disassociate the parking bay from the property makes the most sense - just use a freely available payment gateway (eg. "Tap Electric") that reimburses the owner of the communal supply for the EV usage and everyone is happy. The owner of the communal supply doesn't need to know or care who uses the chargepoints, just leave that to the payment gateway to worry about.
another possible way of doing it could be to maybe replace the fused isolators in the service cupboard with a small 2 way fuse board, feed the flat with 63A (the flats appear to be fed in 16mm² T&E so 80A is pushing it a bit anyway) then 32A for the charger, if surge protection is being fitted then will need a slightly bigger board 4 maybe 5 way, suppose depends on the space you may have available, definitely think the Easee Chargers are the right option for this install too!
Easee don't respond to support requests. Quite an awful impression.
@@nzer19 I haven't had any issues with the Easee chargers I have installed so don't know what the support is like unfortunately
@@nzer19 As the owner of an Easee One charger I have contacted Easee twice. Both times via their website and both times have had a response within hours. Can't understand why you would have a problem.
After some extra information on current Government funding for these types of property check out our 8 At 8 video here 👉🏼 th-cam.com/video/BXdSa5PC_QM/w-d-xo.html
Well explained 👏👏👏👍👍 can you do a video about the grants eg filling them out etc
dont you need type B RCD?
This was FANTASTIC. Although not in the UK, it gave me some great background info in moving forward with electric vehicle charging, which I hope to do in the future. Nice one!
Glad you found it helpful! Thanks for watching.
well explained Jordan, we recently done a similar job and found that moving the electrical meters downstairs to be an easier option to running cabling externally from the building.
Concern from the routing I have is taking supplies from one property through another. Going through landlords is one thing but going through another dwelling I wouldn’t recommend. That would all need agreement and would recommend clear labelling of where cables fed from at more than just each end, where visible in loft of apartments
Absolutely. If flat had exclusive use of loft space above it, may need to vary terms of lease to run another flat's cable through it. Else next owner could just remove it.
This video has been invaluable. I live in a block of flats on the third floor, and my neighbour has a Tesla, and I have a Phev. Would be good to chat with you guys about it sometime.
For setups like these, someone should make a switchfuse unit which also provides a second output via a DP RCD, so you could effectively split the flat's tails without needing much more space in the distribution area.
Proteus will usually make up anything you want. Iv had stuff made to order.Eaton make an 80 amp MCB too
Lewden have these available
That DNO supply head looks like it has additional unprovisioned capacity. Would suspect the DNO could upgrade the management company's supply to a 3-phase relatively easily in this property. Could then put in a 3-phase board and some faster chargers all fed from the main DB using back office billing. Probably wouldn't even need to go into the flats.
@@christianclark1354 good shout
I was thinking this. Why not just run them all from that meter cupboard. You can still run each charger off each flat's feed so you don't have to mess about with a billing system, but now the cables all run together from the single point without having to do seperate cabling in each flat. If the supply needed to switched off for maintenance of some kind in the future it makes it easier if the switches are all there together as well.
So basically in a flat with air-source, heat-pump heating, electric cooking and an electric shower - the only allowable EV would be a Scalextric (at the lower speeds only)
amusing but no, it needs the electric supply company to come & upgrade their supply. This has even been discussed on BBC TV news.
Or you add a sensor that disables ev charger when more than 50/60 amps used and switches back on after.
or a smart load distribution charger that throttles charging to the car when load demand in the house is high
@@alanhat5252 which creates its own problems. If all 118 of the flats in my complex move to 3-phase, with electric air-source heating and EV chargers, then the small (half-garage sized) substation that services our flats would need to be upgraded to twice what it currently is (if not more). Problem there is that the land simply doesn't exist to allow such an upgrade. We would either need the council demolish the local swimming baths, or six (or more) residents would need to completely sacrifice their parking bays.
@@skfalpink123 that's an interesting conundrum.
My first thought is that if your current substation is single-phase (I find this unlikely) it would be trebled to add the other 2 phases which would probably add sufficient extra capacity without increasing the scale of any component.
My next thought is to question why the substation is on-site at all given that they can fail in a most spectacular manner, possibly leading to a Grenfell-style style scenario.
How far away is the nearest sensible alternative site for a substation?
Modern electronics can replace transformers, drastically reducing the footprint & adding management capabilities like Voltage control & selective circuit switching, I believe they're cheaper too.
That was so informative my head hurts! Great video, cheers from NZ
Always good to have a neatly trimmed bush, not essential but nice to see. Great advice.
The red fuses mean that the supply is fused elsewhere. Its not the fuse in the switchfuse which protects it. There is individual fuses in the service head! Which is why the head is so big and wide!!
Didn't see this before i commented the same. Sure it was just a brain fart by Jordan
Change 80a KMF in riser cupboard to 2 way board and supply all from there.
Crazy running from each individual flat.
You mentionead the EasEE charger with a back-office system to run from the landlord's supply or more likely a dedicted one, but does the EasEE have the required MID approved metering required if charging people for electricity?
Also, you mentioned adding to the electricity price to cover costs, AIUI this is illegal for general use ( e.g. landlord charging tenant) unless you are a licensed supplier - is this different for EV charging?
Don't Wallbox do a system that satisfies this? They are controlled/monitored by a Commander unit.
In Belgium with our very strange tax system, your employer is encouraged to pay a part of your salary in the form of giving you a leasing car and pay for all the fuel (!). When EV became a thing, the charging point manufacturers immediately made a consortium and defined an open standard for communcation between charging points and a back-office system : the OCPP protocol. The charging point are of course equipped with MID approved metering. There is a free market for back-office services. Usually for a company car the back-office is configured to have your company refund your home electricity costs needed to charge the company car. I think about all EV charging points sold in Belgium have MID metering and are OCPP compliant. Beware domestic installations in Belgium are always TT with local earth so the protection is more simple than in UK from that point of view (no PEN fault detection stuff here).
The metering is fine but it is another piece of back office for billing. We use monta and the do all that stuff
My understanding is that the rule about reselling having to be at cost only applies to supplies for domestic use. I'm pretty sure a public EV charger doesn't count as domestic use, but I have no idea how a charger in a block of flats would be treated.
That was an excellent video Jordan, your knowledge and presentation skills are second to none. Well done my friend.
John from Hull.
I spent 2 years arguing with and then replacing my factor so I could just ask my fellow owners if we can install a charger in our space. Finally got the vote and have approval. Also going to the Easee charger for the 4g connection and fortunately there is a run from our 4th floor flat down to the bin store that's 8m from our space. The only real issue is having a trench dug for the final part of the run. All in with grant it's £2,500 for us to get the install but something I feel confident we would get back from the sale of the property in the future.
I’m in a block with 45 other owners. Do I have to get all to agree to it or just a threshold percentage?
@@aljames7345 you need to look at your deeds of condition. For me it was about calling a meeting and then getting a majority of votes cast.
@@rossadamdixon thanks v much Ross. Will do.
@@aljames7345 Sounds like a challenging situation but we'll done for persevering with it. Maybe you can get some others I the building to join in with it. If you got 10 installed rather than 1 I'm sure the cost each would be lower.
is that wall for installation not owned by the owner of the garage?
Ask the DNO to upgrade the single phase Landlords supply into a three phase supply? And fit a 3phase CU in riser above? And do the back office payments etc. Looks like there are spare ways from that 'grey box' - thats a Lucy multi service distribution board, MSDB. Saves faffing around with multiple flat CUs and the routes. MSDB- from left to right; first 3 ways are L1, next 3 are L2, and L3 gets the next 4, looks to be a spare one of each 😁
Nice vid. Cheers for the content👍
What safety ramifications are there for running other [eoples cables through properties e.g fire protection etc for the loft cables?
This was really interesting. One of the reasons I moved to a house from a flat is that the management company didn't want to install EV chargers, but that was before the grants for more than 5 spaces (the whole development would have about 50 spaces) so maybe they'd be more receptive now. If I ever look at moving into a flat, I might run this video by them if they aren't into the idea.
However, since I'm still renting, I went for a charging solution where I can take the charging infrastructure with me. I have a commando (blue) socket installed and an Ohme Go charger to charge the car. When I leave, I can just bring the charger with me, and the cabling for the socket I can cheaply get removed and move to the new house (Unless the landlord decides to pay me what I spent on installation).
Interesting video, I live in a block of 9 flats and as an owner have a directors share of the management company and its financial affairs, what's not so great about the £850 per parking spot is the electricity from the management meter supply, I doubt that would be fed on the 7p tariff unlike my own consume unit through my own supplier, so any saving of the £850 compared to the £350 would be lost in a matter of months due to higher cost of tariff per KWH on the management supply. Correct me if 'm wrong.
You were looking at installing cables in the riser with fire alarm and coaxial cables on the existing containment ?
What an awesome video Jordan. Well done!
Your videos are great and very detailed 👍🏻
Exactly 130,000 subscribers, congratulations!! 🎉
If airbnb is a workplace, how does that fit in with planning permission for change of use of the property from residential to workplace?
Well explained Jordan. That looks to be a tricky job to be fair!
I live in a small apartment block. We are considering installing EV system and found Jordans explanation incredibly informative. I am sure their are many pitfalls however the issues requiring consideration are clearly laid out. It's a pity for us that Artisan are not on Solihull? Keep up the great work.
Is there an edinburgh based equivalent coming that would do such an install on my flat?
Is it ok to run someone else's cable through neighbours roofspace like you suggested.
Perhaps. Also look at lighting provision at the charging points. A solar light with movement sensor cheap easy installation.
sounds like 4 zappi daisy chained chargers off the landlords supply would work....plus add a 5th visitor charger to qualify for the full grant?
In Germany we have meter cabinets installed in the utility room of apartment buildings with enough space (DIN rails) above the meters to mount the backup-fuses for the consumer units and three-phase RCDs and MCBs for EV chargers there. Of course there are also challenges to run the cables to the charging points, but it is a lot easier to get the power from one place instead of the individual flats. That also prevents the expenditure of providing a billing system, if every parking space belongs to a specific flat.
Most things in Germany are better thought out than here so not surprising
There will be main dno fuses inside the main 3 phase incomer. These may well be 60A.
The switchfuses are there as the meter tails exceed 3m, they belong to the customer, not the dno.
Did you actually have to unscrew the MSF cover to get the fuse out ?
This really is an excellent video.
Great Video thanks for making it.
You were talking about grants but said you needed 5 for biggest grant.
Could you make it 5 by simply adding one charger on building visitor parking spot and on landlords circuit.
Thanks for a very interesting video!
When you have the opportunity please could you do a video for a large block of flats where running cables (power or data) from each flat to the parking spaces just isn't feasible. Lots of people will be in this sort of situation who'd like to get an electric vehicle, but getting a charging point installed seems really difficult.
Many thanks.
From a technical point that's actually a really easy case, there are a number of chargers (like the aforementioned easee) that are designed to be connected in groups of up to one hundred to one supply and then meter the usage. The real issue there is to get the management company/landlord to have those installed, manage them and handle the billing. Sadly this is nothing an electrician can help you with.
But we are approaching the point where landlords will realise that trying to rent out a parking space without a charger is the same as trying out a flat without a bathroom. In about 30 years, when EVs make 80+% of all cars on the street...
@@HenryLoenwind look at Tap Electric for "free" (transaction fee only) billing - they're an Easee partner, and don't charge a monthly per chargepoint subscription (plus transaction fee) like Monta, Fuuse etc.
Good information thanks
Well done Jordon a really good informative run through of what you need to consider for these installations.
Thanks!
you mention cable runs poss in the gravel if it were to go in the gravel it would have to be buried and you would have to put it down about 18"
Why not install sub main at the incomer cupboard for each flat?
I've been after a point at my property for ages but always hit a brick wall when it comes down to getting approval from the landlord, without it costing easily £400-£500. Then theres the cost of having the point installed. The best option I found was PodPoints Apartments system, but the cost is still insane. New flats are not built for EV charging at all. I've given up.
Another Q around funding... could they have had FIVE charging points - 4 with actual chargers (£850) and then one that came off the landlord supply that was just provisioned? That way they'd get the max funding and also have a spare zone in case they ever extended the car park, or made the bays slightly thinner to fit more parking?
Very informative thank you.
This is a very timely video! How do you cope when there is no wall to which to attach the charging point? E.g. the wall belongs to someone else or - as in my case - the parking bay is across a pavement from the flat (so a pedestal is also out). You also mentioned that you can only get the grant if you have an EV, but that's a chicken-and-egg situation: many people won't get an EV without also having a charging point installed simultaneously, and there are long lead times for vehicles. So is there any flexibility on the installation time and having an EV time?
Great video and shows the complications of installation...
This might be a dumb question as an American, but is there not "guest" parking? They could install 5 chargers and have the one extra for guests, and either use a public charging network (ChargePoint here in the US) or allow the guest charger to use any resident's RFID card. That seems like it would greatly simplify getting the grant and the work completed.
If there is guest parking it would be simpler to still have the 4 chargers 1 per apt and just have a guest who needed to charge park in the residents spot and the resident in the guest spot. Also avoids the issue of the LL having to pay full install cost for what would presumably be a very infrequently used residents charger.
Just a thought…. Could there not be a “landlord charger” added from the communal board, then 5 points and greater grant benifits?
Only if the landlord provided an extra parking space for that EVSE to be used from.
*benefits*
That is the common way of doing it in new developments. I have not seen one yet an individual flat feeding its own EVC.
@@stupot_64 That would be clever right? A major developer we do M&E design for simply assigns it to one of the bays, then lets the residents fight for it. I am not joking.
@@peterpeterson9903 ... while you could let the neighbors fight over it, who pays the utility bill if they start using it? OTOH, I suppose the landlord could just flip the breaker off till it's sorted out.
Some crazy long cable runs!
Super long!!
From an aerial installer you would have to be careful running high current cables parallel to the aerial cables on the cable tray in that riser cupboard, as it could cause a lot of interference.
It'll be fine
The amount of jobs I've seen with data and power on the same tray and no interference, so long as there's a few inches between you'll be fine.
Reg 528.1 Band 1 cable should not be ran with Band 2 cables
Just a small correction Jordan... The protection is inside the 3ph service head box below the redhead units. The switchfuses are to protect the cables to the flats :)
it almost makes you wonder why they even put the redheads in?
Very useful thank you. I live in a second floor flat with consumer unit in the flat and the meter on the ground floor. I have had two survey quotes done and neither mentioned the consumer unit and the need to run cables from it, yet in your video you will be doing just that. Is there a way to avoid having a wired connection between the consumer unit and the meter? Thanks
Great videos and straight forward important information. Im from New Zealand and some things are similar but seeing the chargers and features are the best tips to take away. Interesting that you didn't mention a new connection to the street grid for this?
I live in a terraced house (tenant), and both my supply and CU are inside the property, in a cupboard under the stairs. The floor is all concrete, and access to the top floor from that cupboard is very limited. It's absolutely impossible to pull the cable in any reasonable hidden way beside just dropping it through the living room, and then go outside via my landlord's garden and then to our small dedicated parking lot. So, I'm never getting a proper charger in this building, despite it being only 15y old 😪
hi
why not connect direct i the downstars electical cabinet one cable direct from eatch baker with a RCD and fuse
Great video and good to see you at Fully Charged the other day, would like to talk more about this as a potential business opportunity.
Excellent video!
This only works if.....
1. One lives in private apartment/flats.
2. One has assigned parking spots.
3. One has permission from landlord
4. One does not live in high rise block.
5. One does not live in Social/Council Housing.
6. None of the above resolves Real World range anxiety, I drive an ICE Petrol Mercedes which gets a guaranteed 350 mile/tank not upto 350 miles dependent on using lights/heater/Rado/heated screens etc.
7. More cost on top of the purchase/lease of an EV.
So many issues with owning an EV including the UK only has 5% excess electricity on the grid overall.
Using the 'Green Agenda' to justify owning an EV does not work as most of the UK Electricity is not Green power.
All the above comes from someone who would switch to an EV tomorrow if all of the above issues were eradicated.
EV ownership is going to become a lot more expensive.
The government cannot go without the petrol/diesel duty and tax going into the coffers.
They have already talked about separate meters for domestic and EV charging.
Road charging based on your 'car' calling home and telling whoever how many miles you did and was it congested. They will take the money right out of your bank
I have a private parking bay but council doesn't allow me They said they are working on it
One of the biggest things to consider which I don't belived was mentioned is that from a user point of view it would likely be advantageous to have it connected to your supply rather than the landlord supply as you can choose the rate of the supply (for example have cheaper overnight rates etc).
Yeah absolutely thats a good point
How do you handle compartmentation and fire stopping drilling through fire separating elements?
probably just the way it's usually done... with fire rated caulk and conduit for penetrations. A job like this will absolutely need to be inspected when finished.
Don't forget you first need permission off the freeholder , sometimes forgotten and the owner of the brick wall
What would you recommend for an electric vehicle charger please
Domestic house .
Cheers
Everyone loves a neat trimmed bush.
Four sub-switchboards can be placed in the cupboard on the ground floor. In sub-switchboards, we can separate the cables to the charger and home. And install fuses, RCDs, etc. As a result, there will be less voltage drop on the wires.
100% what i would have done create a sub main with c63 mcb if swa cable used to flats calcs allowing and a b32 rcbo to car charger
Is there room to change the fused isolators for 4way boards then run a cable up the riser for each apartment and out to the appropriate parking space
Who owns the wall at the three parking spaces, looks like a separate building. Would this impact on location on the wall.
So you cam just come along and mount whatever you want on the wall of my garage, just because the outer wall is next to 2 parking bays?
very interesting keep up great work be safe guys :D
How would we get a charger with on road parking.
Our road has no off road parking and 20 cars on any given day.
Most days you can’t get out side my house.
Seems like best forward is to add a 5th spot somewhere like the same place on the other side of main door for guests, would help pay for the other 4.
Who's supply would this be run off of? If it's off the landlord's supply every flat occupier would end up paying for 1/4 of the "visitor's" usage.
@@stupot_64 could be and then with rfid badge that each tenant would have could be charged to their account on some daily rate. Seems plausible anyway.
Why not install a smaller (garage) consumer unit with surge protection in the supply cupboard for each dwelling, instead of running cables all the way up to the flat? I used to be a Wylex rep and would have thought that this would be the easier option? Good video by the way.
Interesting, I hadn't really thought it being reasonably feasible to run power from the apartments themselves but... sure, then (at least for this kind of low-rise). At least it's straightforward for the billing part.
Very interesting. Obviously electric vehicle infrastructure is a lot more advanced in the UK than it is where I now live Qld Australia. Still not big here yet. The scale of the country and the distances involved and let's face it the urban travel capabilities of most of the current electric vehicles make them not viable in a lot of situations. Plus the things are still stupidly dear considering what they are. Another factor here is how green is running an electric vehicle if your power is coming from coal. But enjoyed watching what is happening in my old home.
😂 😂 Nice little safety check on the main buzz bar with the he power on. Even if it is a insulated screwdriver, noticed on more than a few videos someone pokes around a live consumer unit.
Surprised he did it on camera to be fair.
Another question...
If one grant covers 5 charging points and gives double the grant money. Why not do 4 for the flats and one public with a back office payment system, like you were talking about? Is the cost of that system more than the difference of the grant money? Because in my mind it would be a win win. Get more grant money and be able to charge for the public parking charger.
People dont want strangers parked on their estates in their car parks that they pay for, is the problem, they are private.
Did you ensure the owner of that wall the red Mazda was agreed the charger can go on it also if the owner of the flat there if not the owner of the red car is hauling with the clonking of the connectors ?
Great video and presentation 👍🤘
Really interesting and useful for those of us in flats, especially as I'm in flats with a few large buildings and possibility of the home owners association putting in five or more units in some of the shared parking spaces.
Unfortunately, none of the spaces have walls nearby so then it's a case of how much extra does it cost for pedestal installs and are there any that actually look good in a garden setting with grass areas near the parking bays. I can imagine a lot of people being upset by the look of some of those poles and huge black boxes. Ideally, the charger would be something telescopic that disappeared into the ground when not in use! Maybe one day.
Pedestals are cheap enough it’s realy the digging of trenches do cable runs etc . All the pedestals need is like a 600x600x600 hole filled with concrete ( approx)
@@makg4655 There are pre-made foundations that just need to be lowered into the ground, but yes, that size is about right.
And, nettlesoup, multi-unit chargers are usually not "big black boxes", just google for the aforementioned easee chargers.
I believe you said these were owned by separate tenants (leasehold) rather than the landlord for the whole block, so how is it acceptable to run another flats supply through another’s loft space ? The fence looks to be owned by residents of other properties, the brick wall you want to fix the chargers to looks to be owned by someone else (possibly a garage), all of these issues need to be addressed first. Looks a nightmare install though, good luck.
I would have thought that a wayleave would need to be obtained from the lease holder of the flat that will have two cables going through their loft. Whether there is a charge for the wayleave or not will be up to the leaseholders to discuss between themselves.
6:12 why not put a "henly block' in after that main switch fuse, then you won't have to bother wireing via the attic of every flat back down To the ground
what about those who live in nelson mandela house?
Hi I own my flat. The company managing the block of flats does not care about EV charging point. We are 12 flats but I'm the only EV owner. I have parking space plus a garage (without electricity inside). Can you please tell me what I should do? We pay thousands of pounds to maintain 2 big gardens that nobody uses, apart from the cat.
Looking forward for the installation
Could you not but 4 DBs in the meter cupboard then route from there ?
In that install, was the landlord supply not fused? You pointed out it has a red head in the DNO termination, but it didn’t appear to go via its own switched fuse holder. Just curious if that’s ok?
The main fuses are in the main multi service cutout below so it's fused in there it's only accessed by the DNO the red links are for meter operators so it's fused before the red links
@@haldo691 Ah ok, thanks for replying.
Looks like an ideal scenario for thieves to steal all the exterior exposed cabling that will appear if charging points become the norm .That surely will be a major problem in the future .
Great content Guys....just check with the DNO about the size of the fuses in the 3 phase Ryefield unit supplying those red links !!
Good point!
In my experience these have always been 60A fuses!
Potential for 400v depending on flats phase and charger locations
The power consumption calculation seems strange to me
In my house I have a 20A microwave circuit, 32A cooker circuit, 32A hob circuit, and 32A car charger... but a 100A main fuse? Even before considering any lights or sockets, garage door, security system, fire alarm etc it seems to me like I could feasibly draw nearly 120A just by cooking while charging the car. Should I be concerned?
If the parking is nowhere near the flats then they need a separate power supply, but installer prices never allow for this and the management company and land owner have to give permission and won't.
No. Running a feed through an adjoining property is a no. Who has insurance liability if something goes wrong?
For that long run, is there a reason to not split the flat's tails in the cupboard ? Seems like it would be significantly cheaper than a long run of 10mm SWA.
I would guess cause you would bypass the 80A fuse? Maybe a small consumer unit for each flat to replace the fuses with an SPD, an 80mcb which then feeds a 63A mcb for the flat and a 32 rcbo for the car charger? Lots of different ways to do the job, doesnt mean one way is better than another..
@@steve11211 You split them after the 80A fuse
@@mikeselectricstuff Sorry, looked like T&E after the fuse, thats what confused me, but your right, go from the fuse up into the cupboard above where there was lots of space to put consumer units for each flats..
Yes. Putting too many possibilities into an educational video tends to overload the brains of those people who watch it to learn something.
i got a quotation for my 3 flat tower (with 3 phase) that I should get a new circuit and distribution board setup from the main switch after the meter (instead of getting the cable to the in-house MCB), which do you think is the best approach? new MCB from meter or getting it from the home?
Thanks for this video, as a flat owner it’s been very educational in terms of the practicalities but being in Scotland I’m not sure how relevant the regulatory side is. I’m in the unfortunate position of having the furthest space from the block for flats so good to know it is doable, albeit going EV is are the furthest thing from my mind at the moment!
It probably is not doable is the thing. You would not be able to freely run a cable through any common areas without a lot of red tape. Find my comment on this video in the comments section and you will receive some insight.
Would I be right in suggesting that the landlord supply wouldn’t be protected by the government unit price cap too as it’s a commercial property / supply?
What about high rise flats or tower blocks?
I mean who's going to stop the charging points getting vandalised?
Superb video. Will there be a video of the install?
Just check the brick wall is owned by flats not neighbour as you can’t just attach it to someone else’s wall. Reason I mentioned this is part of the wall is neighbours garage and you would need their authority