My electric rates make EV ownership a wash.

Well, I'm sure they'll get it by hook or by crook. Congestion charges seem to work in London, although they are welcome to it. I don't live there so don't care what they do.

Interestingly, a number of people I know who live there have given up car ownership entirely. It is just too much hassle with the parking and traffic. The city was never designed for mass car ownership in the first place. They use a combination of cabs and public transport, hiring a car when they need to make a long journey. It seems to work for them.
 
More highway lanes = more cars. Less highway = less cars. Pretty simple phenomenon that's known. One way to curb congestion in a city is eliminate a lane o the highway heading in. People give up and take the train. But none of that really has to do with my high electric rates.

No answer yet, getting back to the lady.
 
I got an update. Apparently our roof is 'not compatible' with solar. Which is total bogus and I told the lady I had the same roof on my last house and it was a non issue there. Then she said that the roof is under warranty, which again doesn't really matter as the qualified installer of it can patch and repair around any solar install, par for the course. So that sounds like the old reasons.

However. She said there's some new laws, of which I am unclear what they are, that seem to reduce the amount of leverage an HOA would have on something like this. I don't really know what but I imagine it's something to the effect of 'you cannot get in the way of a reasonable request for clean energy if the request would not have any long standing damage to the property'. Pure guess. But if that's even kind of true then we just need the roof contractors to finish off the install job in the correct way and we're off.

Apparently it's been a topic of long debate among them.
 
Maybe you need to get as many others in the building involved as possible. Print up a simple flyer stating cost and payback. If you can show that they will save money, then the HOA will have to listen. Does your utility pay for excess solar electricity from its customers? If so, at what rate (usually wholesale)?
 
Roy_H said:
Maybe you need to get as many others in the building involved as possible. Print up a simple flyer stating cost and payback. If you can show that they will save money, then the HOA will have to listen. Does your utility pay for excess solar electricity from its customers? If so, at what rate (usually wholesale)?
Click to expand...

Im not putting up flyers, and I'm pretty sure that wouldn't be allowed anyhow. And I really don't think anyone in my community needs an intro to solar. These places all sell for $1-$1.5M, they aren't generally bought by dullards.

The HOA will listen but they don't have to act. I mean maybe the board gets voted out if people care so deeply about something that they refuse to move on, but this isn't that level.

Yes excess will be bought back, that's the whole math of making solar work for most.
 
I have been studying the different types of EV chargers and installers in the UK and it's been quite interesting. Not all offers are the same and in fact, free charge points issued by manufacturers can sometimes work out more expensive than it would be to buy a unit outright and pay use your standard electricity supply - particularly when you are charging overnight which is off-peak time in the UK, and can offer a lower cost per kwh.

These are global companies and their strategies will be consistent across all markets, so it's important that you do your homework before taking the plunge and taking something.. just because it appears to be free. They 'might' want to lock you in for a very long time and that could cost you much more!

Here's the UK article. I'm mindful it's not based on the US market, but it could give you some food for thought!
https://electriccarchargersuk.co.uk/2019/05/05/1299/
 
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