How to charge your e-car at home
More and more electric cars are on the road in Austria. Charging them at home rather than at a public charging station is much more convenient. We know what matters when it comes to your own charging station.
The number of electric cars is rising steadily. As of the end of May 2023, exactly 127,987 purely electrically powered passenger cars were on the road in Austria, according to the Austrian Federal Association for Electromobility (BEÖ). By contrast, the number of publicly accessible charging stations is significantly lower. Only about 18,000 (as of the end of March) of them are available nationwide. More and more often, owners of electric cars are therefore resorting to self-help and installing a charging station in the carport or their garage. “In principle, up to 11 kW no permission is required. Above that it usually is, depending on the grid operator and the respective building regulations,” says Thomas Aschauer from e4mobility.at -Aschauer Energietechnik.
Socket: Long wait
The expert advises against charging an electric car via a household socket: “It is possible, but it takes much longer. To fully charge the vehicle in this way, you should calculate around 20 to 30 hours. Energy suppliers also warn that household sockets are not designed for such long-term continuous loads. This increases the risk of overload and fire, they warn.
Two variants
If you want to charge your electric vehicle at home, you have two options: A mobile charging station at a free or 400V CEE socket and a fixed wallbox in the garage or outdoors.
If you decide on the latter, you have to make sure that the wallbox and inverter are compatible. “When in doubt, ask a professional,” Aschauer says. For the installation of an 11kW wallbox, which can be carried out by an electrician or mechatronics engineer, the existing power connection is usually sufficient. According to Aschauer, the cost of an installation is usually between 500 and 1000 euros. “In individual cases, it can be more,” says the expert.
No costs are incurred if a 400V socket is already available in the garage or garden: then the mobile wallbox can simply be plugged in.
Speaking of costs: For the wallbox itself, between 500 and 1000 euros have to be put on the table. Depending on the model, wallboxes can also be controlled by smartphone or tablet. Apps also give owners an overview of operating status, energy consumption and incurred electricity costs.
Thinking about the future
In this context, the ÖAMTC advises not to save on wallbox charging power, even if the current e-car may only be able to charge at 3.6 kW. That’s because the next generation of cars would likely come with larger batteries and faster charging options on board.
With the power of the sun
The cost of a charge depends on the electricity tariff. It is more favorable if an in-house PV system is available. Because the charging station can be connected to the PV system – the annual production should be at least 2,500 kWh hr – without any problem. “This not only saves costs, but also protects the environment,” Aschauer knows.
Use subsidies
Anyone who installs a private charging infrastructure for their electric vehicle receives a subsidy of up to 600 euros for wallboxes or intelligent charging cables (mobile charging station) in a one- or two-family house. The prerequisite for the subsidy is that the electricity must come exclusively from renewable energy sources, a Confirmation of this is required for promotion.
For wallboxes directly connected to the power grid, the installation costs can also be subsidized. The subsidy for the installation of an intelligent, OCPP-capable or communication-capable charging station in an apartment building as a single system amounts to a maximum of 900 euros.
The registration platform is open until 31.03.2024 at the latest – provided that the funding is sufficient. Furthermore, this federal funding can be combined with state funding.
Charging stations in the WEG…
Anyone who does not live in a single-family home has to consider a few circumstances in advance: If it is a condominium within the meaning of the Condominium Act, the condominium owner is entitled to install an e-charging station, provided that interests of the other condominium owners worthy of protection are not impaired. “Since the WEG amendment 2022, the “installation of a device for slow charging of an electrically powered vehicle” (in any case, charging with a maximum of 5.5 kW) is a so-called privileged modification. And the installation of the charging station corresponds by virtue of express legal arrangement to the practice of the traffic and/or lies in the important interest of the housing owner , says Wilhelm Huck of HSP attorneys.
Furthermore, the change is subject to a fictitious consent of the other apartment owners: If they are informed of the planned construction and no objection is raised within two months, the consent to the construction is deemed to have been granted.
…and MRG
If, on the other hand, a tenant whose tenancy falls within the full scope of application of the MRG plans to install an e-charging station, he must inform his landlord, usually the property management or the owner, about the project. “If the latter does not reject the project within two months of notification of the planned installation, its approval is deemed to have been granted,” says Huck.
In particular, the landlord may only refuse the change if it impairs interests worthy of protection of the landlord or other tenants or leads to damage to the building.
Also for tenancies which are subject to the partial scope of application of the MRG or merely to the ABGB (Austrian Civil Code), case law usually applies the above-mentioned standard of the full scope of application of the MRG mutatis mutandis.
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