California City To Change Building Codes To Allow Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure

Over the last several years, California has seen a huge upswing in the number of electric vehicles purchased, and with it a desire for more infrastructure to accommodate owners’ home recharging needs.

In California, the City of Palo Alto’s city council is unanimously supporting a proposal to change the city’s building code to require new homes to be pre-wired to support 240v level 2 chargers. Photo courtesy of Treehugger.com.

This is an increasingly important issue for the state, which found in a 2012 study conducted by the California Center for Sustainable Energy that about 1,000 new plug-in vehicles were being sold every month, and in total, Californians owned more than 12,000 plug-in vehicles at the time of the study (roughly 35 percent of all plug-in vehicles in the United States).

And while so far buying an electric vehicle has come with a lot of rebates and incentives for the vehicle itself, there really hasn’t been much cost help given for other needs, like home infrastructure.

A major stumbling block for many buyers wanting to buy an electric vehicle has been the cost of installing a home charging system. Grist reported that in Palo Alto, Calif., “to wire a new house for an electric vehicle charger, it costs under $200 – a quarter of the price tag for installing a charger at an existing home.”

To address this issue, Palo Alto’s city council is working on an ordinance that would require all newly constructed single family homes to include the necessary circuitry for electric vehicle chargers.

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NYS Governor To Install Hundreds Of New Electric Vehicle Charging Stations Statewide

With high and unpredictable gas prices becoming a constant in New York State, Governor Andrew Cuomo has set plans in motion to install about 325 new electric vehicle charging stations across the state.

Electric vehicle charging stations. Photo courtesy of inhabitat.com.

Cuomo has awarded $4.4 million in state funding to be distributed among 10 facilitators – comprising of companies, municipalities, and state-operated power and transportation authorities – to make the installations.

“With New Yorkers facing higher prices at the pump, the state is stepping up to make owning an electric vehicle an affordable and convenient option,” said Cuomo.

The governor’s office hopes that an infrastructure of electric charging stations will help reduce oil reliance in the state and promote the sale of electric cars, trucks, and other vehicles.

Transportation currently makes up about three-fourths of New York State’s oil consumption, and nearly 40 percent of the state’s greenhouse gas emissions.

The state’s electric vehicle charging station project is part of a joint effort by the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) and the U.S. Department of Energy.

The NYSERDA is also planning to manage a $10 million fund that will offer vouchers of up to $20,000 per vehicle for the purchase of electric commercial trucks weighing more than 10,000 pounds.

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Jerusalem Signs Agreement to Expand Charging Infrastructure for Electric Vehicles

Left to right: CEO, Better Place Israel, Maj. Gen. (ret.) Moshe Kaplinsky; Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat; and Better Place Founder and CEO Shai Agassi. Photo courtesy of Flickr.com.

Jerusalem, one of the oldest and holiest cities in the world, is making a move to become one of the greenest cities as well. Mayor Nir Barkat has just signed a new substantial agreement with Better Place Israel to begin the development of a charging infrastructure for electric vehicles in the city.

Better Place, a international provider of electric vehicle infrastructure, services, and intelligent network design, has already placed several charge spots at the entrance of the city as part of the pilot program that will take place next year.

“Electric transportation presents the promise of reducing air pollution and preserving the capital for future generations, while contributing to the reduction of the country’s dependence on oil,” said the mayor during the signing ceremony.

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