EVready - Plug-In Sites

Prince George’s County EV-Ready Legislation Advances in Council Vote

October 17, 2024October 17, 2024 Lanny

The people of Prince George’s County, Maryland may benefit from more electric vehicle charging infrastructure being installed in new residential and commercial construction, thanks to the Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure in Multifamily and Commercial Developments Act (CB-105-2024). The bill, which recently passed its first phase through the County Council, would require new and significantly renovated developments to include EV charging stations or “EV-Ready” infrastructure in parking lots and garages.

Key Amendments to the Bill

Initially, the legislation proposed that 20% of parking spaces be EV-Ready (pre-wired with a dedicated 40A circuit) and an additional 60% be EV-Capable (having panel capacity and raceways to support future installation). However, recent amendments reduced the EV-Ready requirement to 10%, and the EV-Capable mandate was removed entirely. Additionally, the start date for these requirements has been delayed from January 1, 2025, to January 1, 2027.

Supporting Access to EV Charging

Councilmember Wala Blegay, a key supporter of the bill, believes the legislation is crucial for making EV charging more accessible and convenient for residents. “I personally wanted to buy an EV but frankly didn’t because I saw there were limitations on where I could charge.”

Ensuring Charging Station Reliability

A key provision of the bill is the EVSE Maintenance Standard, which places responsibility on property owners to maintain EV charging stations in “good condition in all respects, including the functioning of equipment” ensuring that equipment remains functional and reliable—a growing concern in EV infrastructure.

Mixed Reactions

Maryland Proposes That New Buildings be EV-Ready

February 5, 2022September 28, 2022 Lanny

Pre-Wiring for Electric Vehicle Charging

Maryland Senate Bill 627 proposes to amend the state building code to require the installation of EV-Capable, EV-Ready, and EVCS-Installed parking spaces. The legislation, sponsored by Senator Jeff Waldstreicher of Montgomery County, would apply to new construction as well as existing buildings that undergo significant renovations.

The terms EV-Capable, EV-Ready and EVCS-Installed are defined in the bill as:

“EV–CAPABLE PARKING SPACE” MEANS A DEDICATED PARKING SPACE PROVIDED WITH ELECTRICAL PANEL CAPACITY AND INSTALLED CONDUIT THAT HAS THE ABILITY TO SUPPORT FUTURE IMPLEMENTATION OF EV CHARGING WITH A MINIMUM 40 AMPERE, 208/240 VOLT CIRCUIT.

“EV–READY PARKING SPACE” MEANS A DEDICATED PARKING SPACE THAT HAS A FULL CIRCUIT INSTALLATION OF A MINIMUM 40 AMPERE, 208/240 VOLT CIRCUIT PANEL CAPACITY, RACEWAY WIRING, RECEPTACLE AND CIRCUIT OVERPROTECTION DEVICES.

“EVCS–INSTALLED PARKING SPACE” MEANS A DEDICATED PARKING SPACE WITH AN ELECTRIC VEHICLE CHARGING STATION WITH AT LEAST LEVEL 2 CHARGING CAPABILITY THAT IS FULLY INSTALLED FROM THE ELECTRICAL PANEL TO THE PARKING SPACE.

Maryland EV-Ready Building Code

The code will apply to privately owned commercial buildings, multifamily residential buildings, mixed–use buildings consisting of five or more residential dwelling units, single–family homes, and townhouses. Each building will be required to include a minimum percentage of EV–Capable, EV–Ready, and EVCS–Installed parking spaces in the garage or parking area.

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.

EV-Ready Ordinance Proposed in New Castle County, Delaware

August 30, 2021September 28, 2022 Lanny

Requirement for New Residential Construction

The County Council of New Castle County, DE is considering an ordinance to require that new housing have the wiring and other necessary capacity to more easily install EV charging stations in the future.

The proposed ordinance states, “residents of New Castle County will increasingly demand that our housing stock be outfitted with the equipment necessary to re-charge electric vehicles” and “retrofitting existing homes to install electric vehicle charging stations is both time consuming and expensive, unless the home was initially designed and constructed to facilitate the easy installation of such charging stations.”

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

WHEREAS, several jurisdictions, such as Howard and Montgomery Counties in Maryland, the City of Atlanta, and the entire State of California currently require that all new construction either provide for the installation of electric vehicle charging stations and/or that all new construction be “EV-ready”

Howard County Council passed an ordinance in 2018 to require EV charging infrastructure at new residential construction. That legislation was one of the first of its kind and has become a model for the nation. Howard County’s EV-Ready code is cited as an example in the Great Plains Institute’s “Summary of Best Practices in Electric Vehicle Ordinances”.

The New Castle County ordinance would require one parking space to be EV-ready for each new single-family home, duplexes and townhouses with garages. Councilwoman Dee Durham, the legislation’s lead sponsor, told Delaware Public Media, “It’s cheaper to do it ahead of time than after the fact.”

For multi-unit dwellings, the ordinance would require 5% of the total available parking spaces to have a Level 2 EVSE installed and 50% of the total spaces must be EV-Ready.

New Castle County Council Meeting on Tuesday

UPDATE – The ordinance will now be introduced at the September 28, 2021 meeting.

The New Castle County Council is scheduled to consider proposed ordinance 21-094 at a meeting on September 28, 2021 at 6:30 PM. Members of the public may be provided an opportunity to make comments according to the agenda.

For more information about this subject, see the PlugInSites Legislation Reference – New Construction EV-Ready Requirements.