Has the real estate EV charging problem been solved?
A disruptive technology designed for electric vehicle charging in real estate has been introduced by Finnish company, Parking Energy which specialises in real estate electric vehicle charging solutions. The solution is based on a cabling system with the company's quick connectors that enable chargers to be added in plug-and-play manner.
Installing the EV charger of your choice takes only a minute, providing unprecedented flexibility and eliminating wasteful investments whilst keeping the property technologically future proof in a rapidly developing market.
The question whether electric vehicles will become the predominant method of personal transport is no longer debated amongst industry experts and car manufacturers. Every major automotive brand is entering the market and many countries are abandoning fossil fuel cars entirely.
As electric vehicle sales increase rapidly, the whole charging issue needs to be rethought to include entire buildings and parking areas.
One of the major bottlenecks is the inability to provide scalable and cost effective EV charging systems for residential and commercial buildings. Currently EV charging options are expensive and designed with single digit installations in mind. This raises the barriers for the property owners to invest in EV chargers and makes expanding the installations slow and inefficient. Parking Energy has a solution for this bottleneck.
Parking Energy's solution separates EV chargers from cabling and other electrical infrastructure improvements, which are long term investments in stable technology. However, EV chargers are being developed at a fast pace to meet the changing demand characteristics and regulatory requirements.
Building EV-readiness for a whole parking garage begins by upgrading the electrical distribution center if needed. Cabling with the quick connectors is then brought to every parking spot. After this one time investment the parking area is ready for the rapid installation of EV chargers of various types fitting the particular needs of the tenants. The solution can be installed in both new and old properties with indoor and outdoor parking.
The system enables a power output of up to 44kW per quick connector. Currently charging unit variants are available in 3.7, 7.2 and 22kW power outputs. This allows users to choose a charging unit for their own need. The system will enable all future charging technologies such as inductive charging and vehicle-to-grid charging. All chargers have the identical and same rapid one minute installation process. All chargers are sold as a service, which makes it easy to change the composition and number of chargers.
The first system using this technology has been installed in the headquarters of a leading Nordic pension insurance company with full 238 parking spaces ready for EV charging. The property has multiple tenants, whose charging needs are met by Parking Energy charging service, reducing the need for the property owner to invest time or money into the process.
“This is more than just introducing a new charging equipment to the market. This is an open technology platform which any EV charger manufacturer, charging operator or car manufacturer is can utilise from now on. It’s like the USB port for electric vehicle chargers, enabling compatibility throughout the industry. This will speed up the adoption of electric vehicles in a global scale.” said Jiri Räsänen, CEO, Parking Energy.