Charging slowly in our block

Why is slow EV charging a smart solution for this 1960s apartment block?

EV plugged in for charging

Yarranabbe Gardens, Darling Point

Local resident Mark shares his apartment block's experience with installing EV charging.

About the block and infrastructure installed

Number of units = 77
Year block was built = 1960
Parking arrangements = two undercover car parking areas and open street level parking for visitors and residents who don’t have an undercover spot.
Charging infrastructure installed = 5 x NOX Energy Intelligent Power Sockets
Installed = January 2026

What motivated you to install EV chargers in your block?

We had several residents with EVs who were keen to charge on-site and others considering to buy EVs in the future. We had previously participated in Woollahra Council’s Apartment Energy Saving program so had initial advice from a consultant about EV charging options suitable for our block.

Tell us more about the process you went through to get the system installed?

The slow charging option with Smart Plugs provided us with the most practical and affordable solution, especially given the very limited power supply for our building.

The first stage was a feasibility study and quote from EV charging providers. This looked more closely at our power supply and parking arrangements to confirm the best options for our block. We decided to place the chargers between the parking spaces to allow more flexibility of where to charge from. Our assumption was that with 4 or 5 EVs in the block currently there would be enough charging spaces available at any time for those who need it and there wouldn’t be any impact on others in the block.

We put a proposal together for our Board (equivalent for this block to the Owners Corporation Committee). The proposal was accepted due to some key points such as:

Low electrical impact
User pays system
No dedicated car spaces

Once we had approval the system was installed. The installation process involved our selected EV charging provider (NOX Energy), setting up Smart Plug general purpose outlets in the open parking area which took one day. Next, the Wi-Fi access point for the payment system was installed – this was done by another company and also took a day. Finally, NOX tested the system, set up the billing, and it was available for use by the evening of the installation day.

Were any extra upgrades needed to the switchboard or electrical capacity to facilitate this project?

We had a major switchboard upgrade that was a priority for our block and this was completed before we put any focus on the EV charging. Despite the upgrade we still have significant power constraints as we have a limit of 290 Amps that can be drawn from Ausgrid. This upgrade helps to manage the overall power load for our block and can turn off items such as the chargers if needed to ensure we are within our limits.

Who were the key people involved in the project?

Our Board was involved in the decision making to go ahead with the project. Note that due to the age of our building we are set up as a Company Title rather than Strata Title so it is the Board who approves upgrades.

We also received some support through Council's Smart Plugs EV Charging Program.

How are the chargers being used?

We have 3 regular users of the system with charging sessions taking place every other day.

Our users have found the system easy to operate and the only concern expressed so far is that, because our total electrical capacity is constrained, we can only have two cars charging at any one time. We’ll need to deal with that constraint sometime in the future as EV take-up continues.

One more resident has recently decided to buy an EV now that we have the charging in place.

How does the charging and billing work?

When people want to charge they plug in the car and log into the system via a phone App. There are payment options that are charged through our provider (NOX Energy). The rate charged is the cost of power at our block plus a 5 cents per kWh fee from the provider. The chargers draw from common property power and our provider then reimburses the block for the cost for the power used by the chargers. This is a user pays system.

How long was the project from inception to finish?

Total elapsed time was a few months. This was more a function of our priorities at the time. The installation process was relatively simple and quick.

Were there any challenges with your project?

The first interest in charging in our block was in 2021 and the resident trialled charging using an extension lead in our underground car park. This was not supported to continue due to potential fire risks. For several years residents with EVs were then using public charging.

We also had many competing priorities in our building with other major upgrades needed which meant we didn’t make this project a priority for some time.

As we wanted to put the chargers in a shared car park for visitors and residents we needed to carefully consider parking implications and minimise any potential disruption to others.