With the rise of electric vehicle use, charging stations are needed. Which factors weighed most heavily in the decision-making of a housing company in Turku?

Turku-based As Oy Sepänkulma is Turku’s first prefabricated apartment building. So the housing company has a history, but how does it respond to the challenges of the modern world? Electric driving is becoming more common, and of course, residents need to be served with reliable charging stations.

“How many chargers will we need? Do we have to dig up the yard? Can cars stay parked in charging spots even if no one is charging? Who pays for the charging, and who manages it? What if the devices break down? What if a few years from now we want more—can we get the same kind? Who installs them—and do we mount them on the wall or a post?” lists the most common questions from residents, says Petri Mörönen, Chair of the Board of As Oy Sepänkulma.

Mörönen sits on the boards of several housing companies and knows that similar questions are on the minds of many board members. In this particular housing company, chargers from a different manufacturer had already been installed previously, but they failed, and the repairs never succeeded.

For those planning electric charging

“Typically, designing charging stations begins when one of the residents buys an electric car and needs a charger,” explains Tomi Mäkinen, Trafomic’s specialist responsible for Walle electric-charging stations.

First, the need is assessed: How many chargers are required immediately, and how can one prepare for future demand?

“Forecasts from the automotive sector predict that by 2030 there will be nearly 800,000 plug-in passenger cars in Finland, of which around 500,000 will be fully electric,” Mäkinen summarises.

It’s therefore wise for a housing company to anticipate growth in charging-station numbers already during the planning phase.

“We knew from the start that we wanted slow-charging points. The real discussion was about how to provision for additional capacity—whether we could get identical chargers in the future. Placement was easy: in Sepänkulma, virtually all charging points are on posts,” Mörönen explains.

In Sepänkulma, the building’s electrical capacity was already sufficient, but they wanted load management in place to balance the load between the chargers and other electrical posts.

“Walle charging units were included among our options from the outset; we wanted a domestic candidate on principle,” Mörönen emphasises.

For those who value service and maintenance.

Answers to residents’ questions were easy to find. We only had to dig up the yard enough to get the cables underground. The eParking smart solution that came with the units made management simple. The technician doesn’t need to go around collecting data—user authentication, tracking of consumed electricity, and billing all happen automatically.

Choosing the domestic Walle charging solution was a clear decision for the housing company. The biggest factor was the benefits that come with a Finnish-made product.

“We could even have visited the factory if we’d wanted to, but perhaps the most important thing was that Walle’s representative joined our general meeting and immediately answered the residents’ questions,” says Mörönen.

In the end, a decisive point in favor of the metal-cased Walle was that identical units will certainly be available in the future.

“Moreover, maintenance and spare parts are quickly available from a domestic supplier. Electrical equipment is generally low-maintenance, but it’s good to know that our choice will withstand use, time, and Finnish weather conditions. We’ve also produced a free Buyer’s Guide to help with selecting an EV charging station,” adds Mäkinen.