As the automotive industry continues to innovate, electric cars increase in popularity—so much so, that experts predict a mainstream takeover of these vehicles within the next decade.
Of course, this means reducing carbon emissions, preserving natural resources, and coming up with some seriously high-tech ways to get around. It also means a shift in the way parking owners manage their developments and automated parking systems.
Thus, it’s crucial to start preparing your automated parking for electric vehicles now. Moreover, read about what you can do to prep your developments and parking solutions for this futuristic wave of electric cars.
Automated Parking and Electric Vehicles
It may seem unlikely that electric vehicles would make a difference in the functionality of automated parking systems. But truthfully, these cars are pushing the need for creative solutions on pretty much every level of parking developments. After all, they need specially-designed charging stations and more electrical capacity than most traditional parking solutions.
All of this requires carefully coordinated construction of new developments and retrofitting of existing ones to make space for these features. So the big question remains: what is the best way to prepare automated parking and developments for electric vehicles? Luckily, there are a few helpful answers to that question.
Planning for Electrical Infrastructure
Let’s discuss how developers looking to erect new parking solutions should prepare their automatic parking systems for electric vehicles. In this instance, there are three important things that owners should pay close attention to, and we’ve described them below.
#1. Larger Electrical Capacity
When building a brand new parking structure, the first thing you need to consider is the amount of electrical capacity it will need to sustain a garage full of electric vehicles. Moreover, you should calculate how much electricity (if any) your automated parking solutions will require.
Then, add that number to the amount of electricity the vehicles hooked up to your structure’s chargers will require. Doing so will give you an approximate number to set aside regarding the space and budget you’ll need to accommodate these solutions.
Once you understand how much electrical capacity you’ll need to accommodate your project and its automated parking solutions, you can start planning to develop a structure that sustains it successfully. After that, it’s time to start thinking about charger installation.
#2. Charging Stations
You need to consider the charging stations you’ll have installed. After all, electric cars—while eco-friendly and aesthetic—are no good without a substantial charge. There are various types of chargers to choose from. Thus, you should invest in the type that best accommodates the automated parking systems you hope to integrate.
First, look at how much electrical capacity your development will need to sustain a garage full of electric vehicles. Once you have a solid estimate of the electrical power your development will require, you can decide how many chargers you’ll need to accommodate your parking structures.
Then, it’s time to consider how you’ll have the chargers installed. This part is much easier for developers starting from scratch, as they don’t have to worry about working around existing infrastructure to perform a proper installation.
#3. Coordinating Construction
Of course, understanding your electrical capacity and charger requirements is only part of the equation. Once you know the basics of what your development will require, it’s time to start coordinating the actual construction of your project.
This means accounting and planning for everything from the square footage of your development to how you plan to fit your automated parking structures within it. You’ll also need to think about how you will install those electric vehicle chargers. And you’ll need to do all of this with the project budget and timeline in mind.
Of course, you need to think about the best ways to design your development to use the space as efficiently as possible. Plus, you’ll have to consider which materials best accommodate your new and innovative project. As with any other development, coordinating construction around what it requires is key to success.
Retrofitting Existing Structures
Now that we’ve discussed preparing brand new developments and automated parking solutions for electric vehicles, it’s time to talk about retrofitting existing structures. And when you consider how many parking systems already exist—automatic or otherwise—knowing how to prep them for the inevitable electric wave seems even more imperative than preparing brand new developments.
Retrofitting existing parking structures for electric vehicles is slightly more complicated than building something from the ground up. That said, it’s not an impossible process if managed correctly. In fact, there are only a couple of things you need to do to ensure your existing systems can accommodate electric vehicles, and we’ve listed them below.
#1. Analysis of Current Electrical Capacity
The first step in retrofitting your parking systems for electric vehicles is figuring out how much electric capacity your development currently holds. After all, doing so will help you figure out how many electric cars your system can accommodate as is.
Later, it’ll help you understand how much your capacity will need to increase to sustain an ideal number of electric cars and any other electrically charged systems you use. As a result, you’ll start understanding the logistics of how you’ll increase your electric capacity.
Be mindful that it might require some considerable renovations to your development’s electrical systems.
#2. Accommodating Charger Installation
Of course, part of retrofitting your parking solutions for electric vehicles is figuring out the best ways to accommodate charger installation. We have already discussed the importance of choosing the best chargers for your specific development—and that rule applies to retrofitted parking structures as well.
However, when you’re working off a preexisting structure, you have a little less wiggle room for the vehicle chargers you can work with. In other words, you’ll need to make your selection based on which chargers are easiest to install around your established parking solutions.
Just as well, it’s wise to choose chargers that accommodate your future electrical capacity, whatever it may be. Don’t pick chargers that won’t be up to par once you’re done making adjustments. Basing your decision on these things will ensure that your structure provides adequate parking solutions for electric vehicle drivers.
Conclusion
In short, preparing automatic parking for electric cars has much to do with adjusting the structures that house them. Doing so ensures that your development and any solutions you use within them have the appropriate electrical capacity and an adequate number of vehicle chargers.
Hopefully, we provided some valuable insight into how you can prepare your parking systems for this new wave of electric vehicles.
