[CASE STUDY] Large Apartment Complex

Joseph Nagle
February 21, 2023
A 119-unit building in the San Francisco Bay Area needed more EV charging stations to satisfy the needs of its residents. By working with Orange they not only installed far more chargers than would have been possible with other solutions but also paid zero out-of-pocket expenses.

Situation

This 119-unit property had previously installed two dual-port charging stations to handle their property's electric vehicle (EV) charging needs. At first, the property asked residents to share these stations but as more EV drivers moved in sharing started to cause more problems than it solved. 

The charging provider used a scheduling program where vehicles parked for more than four hours would be subject to a $40 fine each time they failed to move their vehicle. This failed to have the desired effect as drivers simply stopped using the stations as they did not want to come back to move their vehicles. With more than eight current EV drivers and more on the way the property management team realized they needed to cover more of their parking spaces with charging to avoid any future problems. 

The property looked into adding more stations with the original charging provider but their proposed solution was far too costly for the property owners to bear and they decided to look elsewhere for solutions. Shortly thereafter they got in contact with Orange to see what other options they had. 

Solution

Orange first performed a site walk to determine project costs and feasibility. The property team indicated they wanted to satisfy their current charging needs while planning for a larger number of EVs in the near future. Once Orange went on-site it was determined that in order to cover a majority of the parking garage spaces with charging and stay within the property’s budget, lower-powered Orange 520 Outlets needed to be installed. 

The site had enough available capacity to install four outlets, unfortunately, this would barely cover the building's current needs and would most likely put them right back into the same situation in the coming years. Orange worked with Pacific Clean Energy to install a new 125A breaker to a 200A sub-panel which increased the potential for charging stations on site. By doing this Orange was able to expand the number of Orange Outlets from four to 34. 

Results

By working with Orange and Pacific Clean Energy the site paid no out-of-pocket expenses in bringing in the additional electrical equipment required. In doing so they saved over $70k in upfront installation costs and installed more chargers than would have been possible without significant service-level upgrades to the building. 

The building upgraded the existing electrical capacity to support 30 Orange 520 Outlets, while still keeping the two dual-port chargers already on-site. This was only possible because they leveraged Orange’s lower-powered solution. With other providers, the building would have needed to remove these stations at a significant cost. The new Orange-designed setup ensures that up to 34 EVs can charge simultaneously, easily covering the building's current charging needs while also avoiding this problem for the foreseeable future.

Additionally, thanks to the incentives provided by Pacific Clean Energy the property is already generating revenue from these stations, allowing the building to recoup all of its upfront costs and plan for any additional chargers in the future without worry.


Learn more about working with PCE and Orange.

Share this post

Situation

This 119-unit property had previously installed two dual-port charging stations to handle their property's electric vehicle (EV) charging needs. At first, the property asked residents to share these stations but as more EV drivers moved in sharing started to cause more problems than it solved. 

The charging provider used a scheduling program where vehicles parked for more than four hours would be subject to a $40 fine each time they failed to move their vehicle. This failed to have the desired effect as drivers simply stopped using the stations as they did not want to come back to move their vehicles. With more than eight current EV drivers and more on the way the property management team realized they needed to cover more of their parking spaces with charging to avoid any future problems. 

The property looked into adding more stations with the original charging provider but their proposed solution was far too costly for the property owners to bear and they decided to look elsewhere for solutions. Shortly thereafter they got in contact with Orange to see what other options they had. 

Solution

Orange first performed a site walk to determine project costs and feasibility. The property team indicated they wanted to satisfy their current charging needs while planning for a larger number of EVs in the near future. Once Orange went on-site it was determined that in order to cover a majority of the parking garage spaces with charging and stay within the property’s budget, lower-powered Orange 520 Outlets needed to be installed. 

The site had enough available capacity to install four outlets, unfortunately, this would barely cover the building's current needs and would most likely put them right back into the same situation in the coming years. Orange worked with Pacific Clean Energy to install a new 125A breaker to a 200A sub-panel which increased the potential for charging stations on site. By doing this Orange was able to expand the number of Orange Outlets from four to 34. 

Results

By working with Orange and Pacific Clean Energy the site paid no out-of-pocket expenses in bringing in the additional electrical equipment required. In doing so they saved over $70k in upfront installation costs and installed more chargers than would have been possible without significant service-level upgrades to the building. 

The building upgraded the existing electrical capacity to support 30 Orange 520 Outlets, while still keeping the two dual-port chargers already on-site. This was only possible because they leveraged Orange’s lower-powered solution. With other providers, the building would have needed to remove these stations at a significant cost. The new Orange-designed setup ensures that up to 34 EVs can charge simultaneously, easily covering the building's current charging needs while also avoiding this problem for the foreseeable future.

Additionally, thanks to the incentives provided by Pacific Clean Energy the property is already generating revenue from these stations, allowing the building to recoup all of its upfront costs and plan for any additional chargers in the future without worry.


Learn more about working with PCE and Orange.