November 2024
Dominion Coal Silos at Merton Street and Mount Pleasant Road goes back more than 80 years to the days when Toronto homes relied on coal for heating. Rather than tearing down this landmark, they were converted to house 220 condominium units about 20 years ago.
This community more recently underwent a retrofit to support charging systems that will be necessary as gasoline-powered vehicles make way for electric vehicles.
Getting electric vehicle chargers into condo buildings is a challenge. There is a cost to installing the necessary electric vehicle infrastructure when few actually have electric vehicles. In recent years, the Condo Act has been revised to help communities incorporate this infrastructure. Each community needs to decide if, or when, to embark on a large and costly electrical project to ensure a charging system for every parking spot when only a few owners currently need them.
Dominion Coal Silos found a solution that 56 residents committed to even though only three owned an electric vehicle. While some anticipate the need for a vehicle charger, many expect their home to be more valuable when sold.
The first resident inquiry was in 2018. Working with an electrical engineer, they eventually decided to design a system with a substation on each parking level so residents wanting a charging system could run a line to their parking spot. The cost was about $400,000, partially funded by the federal government’s ZEVIP program which provides grants for electric vehicle charging infrastructure. This allowed individual owners to install their own charging station at a cost of under $3,000.
Installed chargers track the charging of each vehicle and bill for the electricity so residents pay only for electricity they use. Charging systems can require so much electricity there is a shortage for other needs. The system monitors and distributes electricity to ensure the building does not run out of power for individual units or building systems. When overall building demand is high, the amount of electricity delivered to vehicles is lower so charging can take a little longer. This is generally not noticeable since most vehicles are charged overnight and fully charged by morning. The cost of a single charge is likely to be under six dollars which is about four times less than public chargers.
Bidirectional chargers offer additional possibilities. They allow electricity to flow both ways. In the event of a power failure, shortage or blackout, electric vehicle batteries can be used to power electrical devices or systems.
