Legislation - Plug-In Sites

Please Fix Maryland Anti-ICEing Legislation HB 157

January 29, 2022September 28, 2022 Lanny

EV Charging Connector Lock — Laws that penalize EV drivers who get unplugged will lead to more people locking the connector to their car.

UPDATE: Feb. 4, 2022

SB 146 was amended to add the problematic language that will penalize an electric vehicle driver if their car becomes unplugged. The amended bill was approved on 2nd reading on Thursday and will likely pass in the Senate. The House bill HB 157 passed out of the Motor Vehicle and Transportation Subcommittee on Thursday. That bill was amended to remove the requirement to post official signs at all charging stations funded with public money. Tesla objected to the mandatory enforcable signs:

“There are commercial properties who would like to install charging infrastructure but would not want to install a sign as required under HB157. For example, an establishment with limited spaces for customer parking may not be willing to limit its parking to EV customers only. The approach in the crossfiled bill, SB146, to outline what should be on a sign if a property owner chooses to install one, without requiring their installation, is a better approach to ensuring that potential site hosts are not dissuaded from installing EV chargers on their property.”
Tesla testimony regarding Maryland HB 157

Maryland House Bill 157 and Senate Bill 146 were originally described as: “Prohibiting stopping, standing, or parking a vehicle that is not a plug-in electric vehicle in a parking space that is designated for the use of plug-in electric vehicles.”

California Got it Wrong

Unfortunately, Maryland’s “anti-ICEing” bills contain problematic language that GM bullied into California AB 475 in 2011. EV advocates including Plug In America tried to stop AB 475 before it became law. One compelling reason was that other states look to California when adopting electric vehicle policies. Unfortunately, the efforts of the EV community to overturn the wishes of General Motors were not successful. Therefore, we must continue to educate lawmakers on a state-by-state basis on the consequences of borrowing from the bad California “anti-ICEing” law.

Comments to the Federal Highway Administration on EV Charging Deployment

January 27, 2022November 30, 2022 Lanny

The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) will invest approximately $7.5 billion for the deployment of electric vehicle charging infrastructure in the US. The Department of Transportation (DOT), in coordination with the Department of Energy (DOE), is required to develop guidance for States and localities to deploy electric vehicle charging. A Request for Information (RFI) was published under Docket No. FHWA-2021-0022 to invite public comments to inform the development of the Guidance for an Electric Vehicle Charging Program.

I submitted the following comments:

Docket No. FHWA-2021-0022
January 27, 2022

As an electric vehicle driver of nearly ten years, I appreciate this opportunity to provide comments on the Development of Guidance for Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure Deployment from an EV driver’s point of view. The consumer experience at public EV charging stations can have a profound effect on the success of charging infrastructure deployment.

Comments are directed at the EV Charging Program statutory considerations as indicated by their corresponding numbers below.

Statutory Consideration 1

50 miles is a reasonable distance between publicly available EV charging stations. This is especially critical for colder climates where the winter temperatures can reduce the range on battery electric vehicles.

Statutory Consideration 3

Priority should be given to EV charging infrastructure that is located at or near locations that have 24-hour amenities such as off-highway travel centers, fuel retailers, convenience stores, and local small businesses.

Frederick County, Maryland Considers EV-Ready Ordinance

January 12, 2022September 28, 2022 Lanny

The following is a message from Council President MC Keegan-Ayer:

Bill 22-01 (Electric Vehicle Charging Stations) will be coming up for it’s second reading on February 15th. The Third reader and Council vote is scheduled for March 1st. This is the date that any amendments will be brought forward, if there are any.

If you’d like to make public comment on the Bill, the easiest way is to email your written comment to CouncilMembers@frederickcountymd.gov and these comments will be made part of the public record. This email will go to every Council Member, and you can email any time.
If you prefer to call in and give live comment on either date, you can call during the meeting:
855-925-2801, enter meeting code 8365
From here you can either leave a voicemail message (which will be played during the meeting) or enter a virtual queue to give live public comment.

For New Residential Construction

Frederick County Council President M.C. Keegan-Ayer has proposed an EV-Ready ordinance to ensure that new homes in the county will be able to have electric vehicle charging equipment easily installed in the future.

Frederick County has the third highest EV adoption in Maryland as measured in an August 2021 PlugInSites analysis.

The County Council of Frederick County, Maryland, finds it necessary and appropriate to amend the Frederick County Code to require electric vehicle charging infrastructure for charging electric vehicles in certain new residential structures by adding provisions to Chapter 1-6: BUILDINGS.

Electric Vehicle Legislation, 2022

January 3, 2022March 13, 2022 Lanny

PlugInSites is tracking Electric Vehicle legislation in MD, VA and certain EV related bills in other states.

Frederick County Passes Very Limited “Anti-ICEing” Ordinance

November 17, 2021September 28, 2022 Lanny

Frederick County Electric Vehicles Parking Ordinance

The Frederick County Council voted 5-2 to approve legislation to prohibit non-electric vehicles from parking in reserved charging spaces on County roads and County owned property.

Not Applicable on Private Property

The ordinance will not apply at the Tesla Superchargers at FSK Mall nor will it apply at the Electrify America chargers at Walmart. The ordinance will only be enforceable at publicly available charging spaces on County owned property. Currently, there are no electric vehicle charging stations that are open to the public on Frederick County owned property.

Council Discussion

The bill had previously been amended to remove the 8,500 lb. weight limit in the definition of a plug-in electric vehicle and to change the requirement that plug-in vehicles must be connected to language that says, “A person may only stop, stand, or park a plug-in vehicle in a plug-in vehicle parking space for the purpose of charging the plug-in vehicle.”

Council Vice President Michael Blue expressed that he did not think the bill was necessary. He noted that at the two public hearings on the bill all of the people who commented were EV drivers and none of them supported the legislation. He explained that he had voted in favor of the amendments because, “I would like the bill to be as good or better than it was, and I think the amendments did help that.”

Rick Harcum, the County’s Chief Administrative Officer said, that the Administration is generally in support of the proposal because it sets the stage for how parking spaces for electric vehicles should be managed on County property in the future.

Harcum said that as of now, there are only five charging stations on County property and that they are “designated by signage for parking of County vehicles, so they are not considered public parking spaces.” He added that the County can currently manage those non-public parking spaces by having DPW put up signs.

Questions About Frederick County “Anti-ICEing” Legislation

November 4, 2021September 28, 2022 Lanny

Frederick County Maryland is considering legislation that purports to restrict parking at electric vehicle charging stations. Sounds great, doesn’t it?

But what will this “anti-ICEing” ordinance actually do for EV drivers if it passes? Let’s examine the details.

Will the “Anti-ICEing” ordinance apply at the Frederick, MD Tesla Superchargers?

No.

The ordinance requires official signs that conform to the “Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices”. Tesla uses signs branded with their logo that don’t meet the MUTCD standards. Also, six of the ten stalls have “General Parking” signs that allow anyone, even ICE drivers, to park for up to 30 minutes in the charging spaces.

Will it apply at the Electrify America Chargers at Walmart in Frederick?

No.

The EA chargers at Walmart have official MUTCD signs but they are on private property. The Frederick County ordinance will not apply on private property.

New Castle County, Delaware Passes EV-Capable Ordinance

October 27, 2021October 27, 2021 Lanny

For All New Residential Construction

The New Castle County Council in Delaware passed an EV-Capable ordinance for new residential construction to ensure that homes will have the capability to have Electric Vehicle Supply Equipment installed quickly and affordably in the future. Ordinance 21-116, sponsored by Councilperson Dee Durham, will require a junction box or receptacle within five feet of the parking space, conduit from the receptacle to the electrical panel and sufficient space in the panel to install a breaker for an EVSE.

For new multi-unit dwellings, the ordinance requires 10% (amended from the proposed 50%) of parking spots to be EV-capable. There must be a minimum of two EV-capable spots with one of them required to be designated as handicapped accessible. If approved by the County Executive, the ordinance will apply to all new construction permit applications beginning on July 1, 2022.

Councilperson Durham said that she and her staff talked to people all around the country in preparation for this bill. She originally wanted the ordinance to require “EV-Ready” which would include full wiring and circuit breakers but learned that the County didn’t have the regulatory authority over the electrical code. Those changes will have to be made at the state level since the state oversees the electric code.

Flawed Frederick County Anti-ICEing Bill – Public Comment

October 12, 2021September 28, 2022 Lanny

Frederick County Charging Station Vandalism

Dear Frederick County Council Members,

As an electric vehicle driver, I wish to oppose the Electric Vehicles bill no. 21-09.

This legislation, while well-meaning, will likely harm more than it will help.

The preamble of 21-09 states that it would “prohibit parking of a vehicle that is not a plug-in vehicle in a public parking space reserved for plug-in vehicles.” This would be similar to the ordinances in Montgomery, Howard, and Baltimore Counties to prohibit only gasoline vehicles from EV charging spaces.

But the actual language in the Frederick County bill says plug-in vehicle drivers would also be in violation “if the vehicle is not connected to the charging equipment.”

This is a reasonable idea in theory. But how do you know for certain the original intention of the EV driver?

I have had someone unplug my car without permission on multiple occasions. Sometimes another EV driver will park next to me and take the charging connector from my car and plug it into their car. One time, the car’s dashcam recorded someone who, for no apparent reason, walked up to the car, unplugged it and put the connector back in the charging station. Both of these scenarios would leave EV drivers vulnerable to a violation through no fault of their own if you adopt this bill.

See the attached photo taken at the EV charging station at Winchester Hall for the County’s fleet vehicle. There are notices on the charging equipment to warn people, “You are on camera. This area is under surveillance.” Apparently, there are already concerns about people tampering with EV charging on County property.

EV drivers simply cannot rely on the good behavior of every person who passes by our vehicle while it is unattended in order to avoid a ticket.

This ordinance will discourage people from using public charging if it goes into effect. Montgomery, Howard and Baltimore County Councils decided to focus only on prohibiting gas cars as a first step while reserving their option to amend the ordinance if complaints arise about EV drivers abusing the charging spaces.

The Council should ask if existing parking ordinances such as § 1-15-20 can be employed to enforce parking rules on County property rather than creating a new section of Code for an evolving technology like electric vehicle charging.

Should the Frederick County Council add § 1-15-31 to the Frederick County Code regarding Electric Vehicles? The answer quite simply is, no.

There are more effective ways to support EV adoption than this difficult to enforce bill. I’d be happy to work with you on solutions for those bigger issues.

I respectfully ask the council to vote against adoption of bill 21-09.

Sincerely,

Lanny Hartmann

UPDATE:

At the public hearing that was held on Oct. 12, 2021, the sponsor of this bill said he understood the concerns about the “must be connected” language and that he plans to make adjustments to the bill in response. However, the bill remains unnecessary because existing parking laws can be applied to protect EV charging stations on public property and private property managers can apply existing trespass-to laws.

Maryland “Right-to-Charge” Law is Now in Effect

October 1, 2021October 1, 2021 Lanny

Homeowners Associations and Condos

A Maryland Right-to-Charge law for homeowners and condo residents goes into effect today, October 1, 2021.

Maryland joins eight other states including Virginia and New York to prohibit HOAs and condo boards from denying permission for a homeowner to install an electric vehicle charging station within certain guidelines. It would make void and unenforceable any covenants or restrictions of a condominium or homeowners association if they prohibit or unreasonably restrict the installation or use of electric vehicle recharging equipment in an owner’s deeded or designated parking space.

This bill gives homeowners the right to install a charging station in their parking spot as long as they pay for the costs of installation, maintenance, electricity and subsequent removal upon moving. Many people in Maryland live in housing that is governed by an HOA or condo board. Addressing the issue of charging at multi-family units is important to achieve the full potential of electric vehicle adoption in the state.

New Castle County, Delaware Considers EV-Capable Ordinance

September 29, 2021September 29, 2021 Lanny

For All New Residential Construction

Last night the New Castle County Council in Delaware introduced an EV Capable ordinance to ensure that new housing units have the capability to easily and more cost-effectively install electric vehicle service equipment in the future. Ordinance 21-116, sponsored by Councilperson Dee Durham, would require conduit and sufficient physical space in the electrical panel to accommodate a branch circuit for EV charging in new residential construction.

The ordinance cites Howard and Montgomery Counties in Maryland as locations that already require new residential construction to be EV-Ready.