One of the biggest perceived drawbacks to electric vehicle ownership is the expense and difficulty of getting vehicle charging at apartment complexes. However, at Orange we not only made the installations affordable, but Orange also made them profitable too. All while ensuring EV drivers have access to affordable charging.

For electric vehicle detractors, one of the biggest drawbacks to electric vehicle ownership is the expense and difficulty of getting vehicle charging at apartment complexes. Often shared with images of extension cords draped out of windows, the narrative that you can’t own an EV while living in an apartment wasn’t totally wrong.

As more and more EVs appeared on roads in the US, the number registered to apartments has remained stagnant. Many companies have showcased innovative solutions to mitigate the difficulties of adding EV charging but even in California, the nation's largest EV market, electric vehicle registrations at apartments are a mere 9%.

Orange started out to solve this problem by fundamentally rethinking everything about the EV charging experience from the ground up. Many of the choices we made flew directly in the face of what many other companies were and are doing. However, it's proving that these choices could be exactly what apartment communities have needed all along.

Simplicity at its Finest

The first thing that many will notice is the Orange Outlet looks much different than the typical electric vehicle charging station. Instead of a large wall box or stand, Orange made a simple outlet. As it turns out, the great majority of EV owners who live in single-family homes leverage a simple plug as well. Orange chose an outlet for a few reasons, first it takes up less space, and while it seems trivial in many apartments complexes wall space is at a premium, and having something with a small footprint alleviates that issue.

Next, it requires basically no maintenance. Unlike full-scale chargers, which typically require some kind of maintenance after 3-5 years, Orange Outlet has very few failure points and will last upwards of 1000 cycles (roughly 13.1 years). Property owners can rest assured that when they purchase an Orange Outlet it's going to last a long time.

Finally, Orange Outlets are very easy to install. Electricians' time is not only expensive but can be minimal, meaning scheduling for installation and maintenance can be time-consuming and cost prohibitive. Unlike full-scale chargers that leverage high amperage, our outlets don’t require an electrician to work on or replace them. If you’ve ever installed a 110v then you can install an Orange Outlet. This makes the ongoing management of the charging stations a breeze as site supers or handymen can easily replace them once the initial installation is complete.

Lowest Cost Period

Orange also pulled quite a lot of costs out of the equation by being an outlet. Not only is maintenance rarely an issue, but it also makes all costs lower. Our Orange Outlet is the lowest-cost charging solution for apartments and condos, period. Over the course of an entire community, Orange Chargers saves property owners thousands of dollars. Installed 2x the chargers for 60% less.

This is due to a few factors the first being Orange Outlets retail ($400) for significantly less (upwards of 10x in some cases) than any competitor products, while still covering the community's needs and ensuring fair energy costs to the end user. This doesn’t mean that our Outlets lack functionality though, in fact, Orange Outlets have just as many features as our competitors:

• Commercial grade metering built-in, tracking all usage with 100% accuracy - CDFA compliant
• Built-in Wi-Fi and cellular to create a self-healing mesh network with 99.99% uptime
• Automatic billing and reimbursement through OrangeNet
• Access control to allow only certain users
• Advanced management control, access, and control hundreds of stations across multiple sites via OrangeNet

All this and Orange still manage to be on average 77% less to install and operate than traditional charging solutions, by reducing one thing, copper. The single biggest advantage lower-power charging brings is its ability to leverage lower-gauge wiring and drastically reduce installation costs as a result. Where the majority of apartment charging solutions require 6- or 8-gauge wire, Orange Outlets can leverage 10- or 12-gauge wiring for the same job which removes the majority of the installation costs.

Return-on-Investment

Something we often talk about is the delicate balance that needs to take place when installing charging at apartment communities. EV drivers need reliable, affordable access to charging, the larger community needs that access to be equal for everyone, and the property owner needs to ensure they can provide a needed amenity while being able to recoup the costs.