Now how about businesses too. Palo Alto, Calif. Requires All New Homes to Have Electric Vehicle Chargers - ABC News
The title is a bit off. They are just requiring the wiring to be in place, which will just mean a cost increase for a bigger circuit breaker and thicker wire going to a garage outlet for new construction. A good idea, but that doesn't mean a non plug in owner is stuck with a EVSE on his wall.
Cool I guess? How about an American city with a non-uber wealthy population requiring the wiring? The cost is a bigger issue in the poor south than the rich west coast.
What cost? A 50 amp breaker is $10, the outlet $9, and the cable is $1.85 a foot. All retail prices. You are looking at $60 added on to the multi-10k price of a new house.
When I was house hunting, one new home builder had the option to put a 50amp 220v circuit (I assume it is NEMA14-50). The cost for that option was jacked up with a price tag of $550. Not saying that is how much it will cost over all, but with permits and every players wanting their profits. Probably still a few hundred bucks.
Sounds high. Perhaps there are other code requirements(like has to be in conduit) that I didn't consider. Regardless, the cost is tiny compared to what a new house will go for, and it will be cheaper than putting it in afterwards.
Palo Alto is already built out. The only new homes are ones replacing knock downs. Buy an old house on an expensive lot for a million and a half, tear it down, rebuild with a two million dollar new structure. Add $500 to the total cost - so what?
I've been expecting EV compatibility to become more standardized in new homes over the next few years. Not too surprising to see somewhere in CA requiring it now.
I had a Lennar built home in Bay Area. They have this energy saving initiative that they included in their homes with energy efficient windows, Solar panels, and their NEMA14-50 plug already in garage (EV ready). Had to sell it since family needed a larger place.
Requiring in code though, just makes wide scale EV adoption a little easier. This article is about one Ca city. There is a thread around here on Ca's upcoming plug in legislation, and a state wide EV ready building code is one of them.
