FAQ's

Electric vehicles are a greener more sustainable form of transport, that avoid using fossil fuels which create carbon emissions and contribute to climate change. EVs are cheaper to operate and with fewer moving parts have less maintenance cost, so are overall financially smart.

Your electric vehicle will come with a cable that can plug into your home. However, installing a dedicated smart charger will safely charge your vehicle up to five times faster, and prevent your lights from going out when multiple appliances are in use. You can also use our Thundergrid Home app to schedule charging at cheaper off-peak times.

Yes. Whether you have a Tesla or an MG or Nissan Leaf, all EVs are compatible with our smart chargers. The key difference is that some second-hand overseas imported cars need different cables (like an android vs Apple phone).

Yes, absolutely. It works the same as with a fully electric vehicle.

Generally electric vehicles don’t need to be charged every day, so one charger can be used by two or more vehicles. Dual-outlet chargers are available however their price is similar or more expensive than purchasing two single chargers.

All our chargers are smart, support dynamic load management and will charge your vehicle at the same speed. Choosing a charger comes down to personal preference around aesthetics, pricing and user features like touchscreen or buttons. One charger, for example, allows you to customise its front plate to match your house.

Yes, plugging into a three-pin plug is known as ‘trickle charging’. However, this means your EV charging will be slower, and not as safe. Older homes may not have been wired by a licensed contractor and the continuous charging could overheat wiring potentially leading to fires. An installed charger requires new dedicated wiring making it a safer way to charge.

This varies greatly depending on car battery size and if dynamic load management is in use. All our home chargers replenish the battery at a rate of around 40km of range per hour. It could take up to 10 hours to charge to full, compared to a trickle charger that could take several days.

Thundergrid smart chargers vary their charging speed to work with what power is available in your home, slowing charging at peak times and maximising speed during off-peak. So, no matter how many appliances, devices or lights you have on, you will not lose power.

Thundergrid smart chargers are the solution to managing with what power is available on the grid. As more vehicles transition to electric globally, smart chargers are the answer to avoiding costly infrastructure upgrades. We do this by working with the network companies to ensure we do not overload their lines.

Yes, many of our chargers support using generation from your solar panels. Making use of this solar excess is the most sustainable and cost-effective way to charge your car.

Chargers can either be wall mounted or free standing (fixed to a post). The majority of home installations are wall mounted. All our chargers are robust and can be positioned inside or outside the garage, in a carport or on the house.

EV chargers can only be installed on your property and are not suitable for on-street parking due to safety and council regulations.

Installation costs are based on the charger’s distance from your switchboard and whether it is free standing or wall mounted. The majority of home chargers are wall mounted in or on the outside of a garage, however if you are attaching to an outside post due to parking location, this will cost more. Home installation starts from $1,200.00.

Yes, any charger needs to be installed by a licensed electrician to comply with safety regulations. This can be your own or one from our team. Just make sure they follow the installation instructions as it includes dynamic load management.

In general, you will not need to upgrade your switchboard. However, it does happen from time to time depending on the available space and the condition of the switchboard such as if it has asbestos or is not safe. An electrician would make this recommendation if it is the case.

You will need your landlord’s permission to install an EV charger in your home. EV chargers are a great investment and an asset for landlords, so we recommend speaking to them and they can contact us if they have any questions or concerns.

No. Currently insurance companies are not increasing their premiums for professionally installed smart EV chargers.

No, not specifically. All high-powered electrical devices have a fire risk especially if sourced from unreputable suppliers. Our high-quality chargers all meet New Zealand, Australian and European safety standards, and require professional installation by a certified electrician. Electric vehicles themselves may pose fire risks if not inspected following a significant crash or saltwater flooding.

Electric vehicles are a greener more sustainable form of transport, that avoid using fossil fuels which create carbon emissions and contribute to climate change. EVs are cheaper to operate and with fewer moving parts have less maintenance cost, so are overall financially smart.

Typically, car parking in apartment buildings is in a common area that has a shared power source. Therefore, a wider charging solution needs to be implemented that records and bills for individual power usage and includes dynamic load management (sharing power so the lights won’t go out).

Yes. Whether you have a Tesla or an MG or Nissan Leaf, all EVs are compatible with our smart chargers. The key difference is that some second-hand overseas imported cars need different cables (like an android vs Apple phone).

Yes, absolutely. It works the same as with a fully electric vehicle.

Talk to your building’s strata or body corporate committee to contact us, to start the conversation. As every building is unique, a site assessment will be required so we can understand site layout, how car parks are allocated, how much power is available, and what the future might look like.

In order to avoid a ‘spaghetti’ wiring where individuals’ chargers are wired up to individual meters, our solutions revolve around a central ‘backbone’ of wiring, connected to one main meter. This enables chargers to also be added in the future.

Chargers can either be designated to specific apartments or shared with identifiable user access via our app, key fobs, pins or existing building access cards, linked to our management platform for billing. You can also install visitor chargers with one-off touch screen credit card payments.

Chargers for apartments need to communicate with each other and share the available power with dynamic load management. Depending on the building’s needs (such as visitor parking vs resident parking) and the number of chargers required, our team will advise on the most appropriate charging solution.

Generally electric vehicles don’t need to be charged every day, so one charger could be used by two vehicles. For convenience we could install a second charger if two car parks are allocated.

Installation costs vary depending on your building, site, power supply, and needs of your residents, visitors and the future. The first step is to contact us for a site assessment, and we can continue the conversation.

For strata or body corporates, the cost of the initial central ‘backbone’ (where all chargers connect to) is seen as a future-proofing investment and is typically paid for by the strata or body corporate. They can then choose if they also take on the cost of the individual chargers or if residents buy them themselves.

Yes, you can. Simply enter your details in the contact form, provide your apartment address and carpark number, and we will be in touch to set up your EV charger.

Simply get in touch and we can remotely activate your charger, so you can begin using it and your energy consumption can be measured. We will send you an onboarding pack with all the instructions and information you need to know.

This varies greatly depending on car battery size and if dynamic load management is in use. All our apartment chargers replenish the battery at a rate of at least 40km of range per hour. It could take up to 8 hours to charge to full, compared to a trickle charger that could take several days.

Thundergrid smart chargers vary their charging speed to work with what power is available in your apartment building, slowing charging at peak times and maximising speed during off-peak. So, no matter how many appliances, devices or lights your neighbours have on, the building will not lose power.

Thundergrid smart chargers are the solution to managing with what power is available on the grid. As more vehicles transition to electric globally, smart chargers are the answer to avoiding costly infrastructure upgrades. We do this by working with the network companies to ensure we do not overload their lines.

Yes, we can incorporate chargers that take one-off touchscreen credit card payments, rather than being allocated to a specific apartment.

You will need your landlord’s permission to install an EV charger in your home. EV chargers are a great investment and an asset for landlords, so we recommend speaking to them and they can contact us if they have any questions or concerns.

Our management platform, Ocean, tracks energy consumption of every single charger in the building. Working with your strata or body corporate committee, we only bill you for the electricity you have used.

It is possible to just buy a charger, however there are bigger picture implications that we want to make sure our customers understand. We’re experienced with different scenarios and can walk you through the possibilities and processes.

Our staff solutions range from on-location to at-home charging. Staff can have the option to fast-charge at work over short periods, and charge at home overnight. There may be one fast charger at work that everyone shares, or several that are designated.

Many of our chargers have interactive touch screens so the public, customers or staff can pay with a one-off credit card payment or through our Thundergrid app. To enable these billing services you will need to be on a charger management plan, and define when and how you want to offer public charging.

For businesses who want to start with a few chargers but add more in the future, we install an electrical ‘backbone’ initially (cabling and distribution system), which lets you add chargers if and when you want.

We facilitate a solution between businesses, their landlords and other tenants that works for everyone. We clarify who pays for what, set up a cost recovery system so you and tenants are billed, and work with existing OCPP (smart) chargers if there are any.

If an employee moves home, we can move the charger to their new home, whilst leaving their previous home EV-charger ready. If an employee moves jobs, we put policies in place at the start of the journey, to clarify ownership and expectations.

Whilst you can buy a charger, there are bigger implications to multiple chargers operating at the same time. We understand the unique considerations of different sites and are experienced at solving different issues.  With Thundergrid, you won’t have to worry about the power going out or your investment needing expensive upgrades in the future.

More and more commercial tenants are demanding their premise to be EV charging enabled. We recommend getting us involved from the start to design a centralised ‘backbone’ which all chargers connect to, rather than installing individual chargers ad hoc.

We recommend designing and installing a central ‘backbone’ system (of cables and distribution) which all chargers connect to, to avoid ‘spaghetti’ wiring. This allows tenants to shift carparks without rewiring the garage and allows you to track users and bill from one management platform. Our solutions are also brand agnostic so we can work with most existing OCPP (smart) chargers in your building.

More and more new apartment buyers are demanding their premise to be EV charging enabled. We recommend getting us involved from the start to design a centralised ‘backbone’ which all chargers connect to, rather than installing individual chargers later.

In order to avoid ‘spaghetti’ wiring where individuals’ chargers are wired up to individual meters, our solutions revolve around a central ‘backbone’ of wiring, connected to one main meter. This allows you to track and bill energy use per charger, and add chargers in the future. You may also consider visitor chargers with touch screen payment.

If you have a few, tens, or hundreds of buildings with varying tenants, we help you put policies in place with clear agreements with tenants to recover your costs upfront or over their tenancy. Our management platform, Ocean, allows us to view and manage your multitude of charger activity in the one place and to enable billing services.

The key is to be unified from the start, rather than installing chargers individually. We recommend an initial central ‘backbone’ (of cables and distribution) where all chargers now and in the future can connect to. This is linked to a management platform for tracking and billing and allows you to add chargers easily as demand increases.

We have options for you to recover the costs of charger use. Our management platform, Ocean, allows you to bill tenants or residents per charging session as recorded by the charger. Alternatively, you could increase the lease or ask for payment upfront.

For commercial developers, landlords, and body corporates, the cost of the initial central ‘backbone’ (where all chargers connect to) is seen as a future-proofing investment that attracts and retains tenants and residents and is typically passed on. You can then also choose if you take on the cost of the chargers, share it or pass that onto the users.

It is possible to just buy a charger, however there are bigger picture implications that we want to make sure our customers understand. We’re experienced with different scenarios and can walk you through the possibilities and processes.

Solutions depend on how your business operates. It might be one fast charger that several staff use during the day, or many slower ones. Or it might be chargers at employees’ homes, if they work off-site with allocated vehicles.

Many companies find they have 20 vehicles, for example, but only want to transition two vehicles to start with. We do this by installing an electrical ‘backbone’ initially (cabling and distribution system), so you can scale your fleet over time.

We’re experienced at facilitating and bringing parties together to put a solution in place that works with everyone’s transition plans. So, you can transition your fleet while your landlord can future-proof their building.

We are charger-brand agnostic, so our system can work with any OCPP (smart) charger. We can also set up a cost recovery system using our management platform, Ocean, so tenants can automatically be billed for the energy they use.

If an employee moves home, we can move the charger to their new home, whilst leaving their previous home EV-charger ready. If an employee moves jobs, we put policies in place at the start of the journey, to clarify ownership and expectations.

Yes, you could, but the biggest challenge for heavy vehicle charging is power availability onsite. Installing chargers without a full-picture solution, could lead to expensive installation and infrastructure upgrades. We encourage you to contact us for a site assessment.

Our solutions can combine smart chargers (that share power) with energy storage batteries (that act as a reservoir of power additional to the grid).

Chargers can be a mix of DC (high-power) and AC that can be used for overnight or at-home. We also offer all-in-one BESS charging solutions (battery energy storage systems) which is a battery with built-in EV charger. These can be quickly deployed, avoiding connection upgrades and can remain your asset, even if you move.

Home charging can also be a helpful option. If vehicles are taken home, we can install at-home chargers for overnight, leaving depot charging for during the day.

For businesses who want to start with a few chargers but add more in the future, we install an electrical ‘backbone’ initially (cabling and distribution system), which lets you add chargers if and when you want.

Our management platform, Ocean, allows us to view and manage your multitude of charger activity in the one place. Talk to us about your scenario.

We facilitate a solution between businesses, their landlords and other tenants on site that works for everyone, clarifying who pays and owns what.

We always have expansion in mind. If installation requires extensive siteworks or excavations, we recommend futureproofing to ensure that additional charging capacity can be added later.

We also design solutions to be transportable and ownable, so rather than investing in a site grid connection upgrade, your high-power chargers and energy storage batteries can come with you if you move.

You can raise a ticket in the public app or send an email to [email protected]. You can also call us on 0800 387 877 for New Zealand and 001164 800 387 877 for Australia.

If your charge cable is stuck try these troubleshooting tips first:

• Have you removed the cable from the car first? Many of our chargers require you to unplug from the car first.
• Have you ended your charge session? You will need to stop your charge session either via the webapp or using a RFID fob to safely remove the cable.
• Give it a jiggle. It may sound silly, but occasionally the latch on your car or your cable might not work. In some cases, the latching mechanism on the J1772 charger plug can be to blame–not lifting up enough to allow the plug to unlatch from the car.

If you have any issues, please contact us either via the helpdesk on the Thundergrid app or via our contact form

If you are using a Delta Wallbox charger and receive the following message:

Status code: 00400A

This means that the charger’s emergency stop button has been pressed. This often happens as people think this is the button to turn off the charger.

To reset the charger, simply twist the red stop button on the side of the unit and the charger should restart.