In Palo Alto, New Homes Must Support EV Charging
What’s the Latest Development?
Thanks to a unanimous vote by the city council, people looking to build new homes in Palo Alto, CA are now required to include circuitry that will support the charging of electric vehicles (EVs). The design will allow the installation of a type of charging station that is faster and more efficient than a typical household outlet. City staff estimate that the new requirement will add about $200 to the cost of construction, which is a tiny amount considering that the median price for new homes in the area is US$1.5 million.
What’s the Big Idea?
Writer Will Oremus notes that the new policy makes sense in a number of ways. In addition to taking more of the electricity burden off Palo Alto’s popular charging stations and putting it on residents, it fits in neatly with proposed statewide initiatives that will apply similar pre-wiring requirements for new businesses and multi-unit buildings, among others. In the best-case scenario, “electric cars turn out to be the future, gas-guzzlers go the way of the steam locomotive, the air is spared, and California is way ahead of the rest of the country once again.”
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