Sociability Newcomers are charged for the future.

IN The New Growers Community In Uppsala, some of the property owners started discussing the issue of installing electric car charging as early as 10 years ago. Unexpectedly, it was some elders in the community who led the discussion. They saw potential to make togetherness even more attractive in the face of a possible sale of their homes. Now, 10 years later, electric car chargers have been installed in all the community's garages — 77 charging outlets.

Magnus Andersson, the chairman of the association, together with others on the board of directors, has been a driving force in the project to install electric car charging, which started for real about 3 years ago. With 77 property owners, there were many wills to be co-opted. Although at the time there were only about 4 electric cars in the community, many advantages were seen in preparing for the future and spent a lot of time educating and explaining all the advantages to all property owners.

Many discussions and meetings later, eventually all property owners were on the train. It started looking at what they were going to do, whether there was an opportunity to do it, how it would be funded and who would do it. The road was lined with quite numerous and time-consuming problems with the various authorities to be contacted. Long processing times regarding construction decisions with Lantmäteriet and power access with the energy company, which would also fail with the approval of “Load the Car Contribution” through the Environmental Protection Agency.

Once the plant decision was in place, it was time to try to find an operator who could help them with installation and operation. They received quotes from several actors, but most were only able to help with the installation itself.

“It was a requirement for us that we should not administer things ourselves, but have to find an actor to do it for us. That's why we stuck with ChargeNode, which offered the big picture and was a complete charging partner. We also liked that they had a local presence and seemed extremely knowledgeable in the area, which felt safe,” says Magnus Andersson.

The association decided to install 77 Zaptec Pro in all garages with ChargeNode as a charging partner. According to Magnus, they reasoned that within 10 years it will be necessary and benefit them then. He has also noticed that the step of acquiring an electric car is closer to the hands of residents precisely because chargers are already installed. Magnus, who works as a fire investigator, also adds that it feels safer to have real electric car chargers installed than as an electric car owner to come up with their own solutions to charge their car.

How has the collaboration with ChargeNode worked?
“We are very pleased with the cooperation with ChargeNode. The installation went super smooth and the logistics with the residents regarding moving cars etc. flowed quickly and easily, and everything felt very professional. The charging and operation have been running smoothly ever since. Our contact person at ChargeNode also helped us very much with ambiguities that appeared. He knew what to do and was able to help and guide us.

Do you have any tips for other communities who are thinking about installing electric car charging?

‍— To be meticulous from the start and have a damn good implementation plan. To keep track of what decisions have to be taken and when, as well as to keep track of the authorities' installation time to avoid delays.

— Lobby for the case against the property owners in good time. Have meetings and discuss with everyone, so that everyone has all the information and is on board. Inform those who do not want to about the benefits and talk to them a lot.

— Be flexible and responsive to the possibility of paying the funding. Find solutions that make it smooth and positive for everyone. Not everyone has the same financial situation. Financing was one of the main concerns of our community, but in the end it was decided to share the cost across all the properties. For those who did not have the opportunity to pay the full amount at once, an installment plan was made at the association.