Page 16 - Fast Forward to a Sustainable Future

Originally published September 2015

Charging Ahead

Making charging technology simpler and more efficient—and educating
builders about it—will help accelerate demand for electric vehicles.

BY NICOLE PAJER

LECTRIC CAR SALES are on
the rise. A recent study by the
Centre for Solar Energy and
Hydrogen Research (ZSW)
revealed that an additional
E320,000 new electric vehicles
(EVs) were registered across the globe in
2014, taking the total number of EVs on
the road up to 740,000. The organization
estimates that if the market continues to
grow at their projected 76 percent rate,
EVs will soon be in the garages of one
million people. Bosch Automotive Service
Solutions is working to help simplify the
lives of these future electric car owners
by pushing for EV charging stations
to become a standard feature in new
consumer homes.
The division, which offers both products
and services, has shifted its focus towards
educating builders and contractors on EV
trends and the future need for home-based
charging stations. “Having a chance to CREDIT: BOSCH AUTOMOTIVE SERVICE SOLUTIONS
work with builders is a great opportunity
for both us as an infrastructure company
and also for our consumers,” says Meghan
Chamberlain, account manager of EV Solu-
tions, who has been implementing Bosch’s Standard Feature? If current trends hold, builders who include electric vehicle charging
recent builder teaching initiatives at places stations in new homes will have an edge over builders who don’t include them.
like the annual BOMA (Building Owners panel may be located in the basement. To charger through existing construction, some
and Managers Association) Expo. “Making install a charging station in such a setup homeowners without built-in stations may
builders and contractors aware of the need would require a contractor to cut through find themselves with maxed-out electrical
for charging stations really helps the con- a basement wall and ceiling. “Once they panels, which would then require a full-
sumer once they get into the home.” start going through drywall—or in the case service upgrade.
where you have a detached garage, after your It’s Bosch’s hope that going forward,
PAY NOW, CHARGE LATER landscaping is done—installing a charging EV charging stations will become an
According to the EV team at Bosch, station becomes a much larger project than increasingly popular home amenity, like
installing a 240-volt charging station in a if it were included in the original build,” solar panels, which builders are beginning
new house may save electric vehicle owners says Chamberlain. “Getting it in earlier to include in many new developments. “I
a significant amount of time and money saves them a lot of time and benefits them think it’s somewhat a chicken-and-the-egg
down the line. In dwellings where garages greatly from a monetary perspective.” And challenge right now. Depending on where
are located above ground, for instance, the in addition to the logistics of wiring an EV they are based, builders don’t necessarily

16 FAST FORWARD TO A SUSTAINABLE FUTURE