Patch Blog: Should We Push for Electric Vehicle Readiness Laws?

I've been thinking about this for the last few days.  Most a direct result of meeting with Jim Federico, Executive Director of Engineering, Electric Vehicles for GM. (The Full interview can be read over at blogging.la)

Long story short I opened up the questions to the readers there as part of a contest.  One of the folks posed a question about infrastructure support for apartment dwellers to make the transition to Electric Vehicles (EV).

We in L.A. are better prepared than a lot of places for the EV but we have a long way to go before we can make this green car available to all. Monrovia has a pretty good green record with how it handles itself.  Maybe we need to take the next step to make us more EV friendly with our building codes.

My thought is that it is cheaper to build in the 240 volt lines at the time of construction than it is to retrofit.  Maybe Monrovia can step and make it part of our ordinances that requires new construction be it Single Family or Multi-family, renter or owner occupied require the wiring in place in the garage.  

Maybe go as far as to make it a requirement on remodels and additions?  In hindsight I wish I had done it when remodeled a few years ago.  Not that an EV is in my immediate future, but the cost to retrofit now would be considerably more than if I just did it when I remodeled.  I don't propose that the charger itself be installed, just the 240 volt line so the consumer can chose which charger they want and be able to just hook it up to the wires when they get an EV.  

I know at least of a couple plug-in hybrids in town and the need for supporting infrastructure is going to be there in the future.  Should we just make the ordinance changes now to ensure we are ready for the future when it arrives?  I certainly think we should.