Brf The Village installed 231 charging outlets with ChargeNode to future-proof their compound. Read about procurement, cost-effectiveness and tips for electric car charging in BRF.
Sweden's housing associations are facing a challenge as more and more people choose electric cars and electric car charging has gone from being an innovation to becoming an established value driver that increases the value of condominiums with the possibility of charging. Rickard Dahlstrand, chairman of Brf The Village in Hammarbysjöstad, carried out a structured procurement when they invested in electric car charging for their association and together with ChargeNode they installed charging outlets in all of their 231 parking spaces.
The market has grown around electric car charging providers and today there are many companies to choose from. How did you choose ChargeNode's charging system?
We conducted a structured procurement among several of the charging system suppliers, where the evaluation criteria were requirements for scalability, service, platform and governance. ChargeNode was by far the most cost-effective solution for us. Not only in terms of investment, but above all in terms of the long technical life, which results in a much lower cost spread over the operating year. Their technical solution is also very similar to the electrical technology that we have in the rest of the property and makes it easier to maintain in the long run. They also have a good charging solution and a plan for how to deal with the electric power issue when everyone in the garage wants to charge at the same time and that was very attractive to us.
What type of installation did you choose for your association?
We chose to install charging outlets at all locations in the garage. This means that we do not have to worry about this ever again, either in terms of maintenance, electricity output or questions from members. We feel that we have found the right thing and we also do not have charging boxes everywhere in our parking. We have now received a stylish and discreet charging solution that was an important aesthetic aspect for us. ChargeNode installed two different solutions with us. In one, charging outlets were mounted directly on the wall of the garage and in the other we put their aluminum beam with integrated charging outlets along the parking lot.
How did you come to the decision to install charging points at all the locations in your compound even though not everyone drives an electric car yet?
We see that the auto industry has made a systemic choice. All major car manufacturers have said that in principle they will only produce electric cars by 2030, and the bonus-malus scheme shows that even the government and the Riksdag believe that it is electricity that applies to private cars. The curve for new car sales of electric cars is also pointing steeply upwards and we believe that within a few years we will have 50-70% occupancy of electric cars in the garage. We needed to have a solution that took this into account now and that could also deal with the power challenge.
Installing electric car charging creates an attraction value at the association. Is that something you noticed?
Yes, it increases the value of the apartments to have charging points in the garage. It's almost like this should be a check box in the search on Hemnet!
What would you recommend others to consider who are faced with investing in charging points for their association? What is important to consider?
The ChargeNode software optimizes and allocates the available charging power on the number of cars plugged in, departure times, the charging capacity of the cars and the desired charge. Everyone gets charging without the property having to increase the power output. The system can scale up to hundreds of locations.
Charge Node Europe AB
Neongatan 4B
431 53 Molndal
