Vehicle Recharging

Background

Possible Policies

• The Washington Energy Strategy says: "To enable widespread access to EV-charging equipment, the state should establish – and promote enforcement of – building codes that require installation of conduit, wiring and panel capacity needed to support EVSE in new and retrofitted buildings, including commercial buildings, office buildings, and multi-family dwelling units."

• The Washington Energy Strategy also calls for the State to insure that public chargers are available in areas where private companies may not find it cost effective to install them: "the state should identify major BEV charging and FCV fueling infrastructure projects with significant public benefit and provide these with direct public investment. The state should also directly support, or enable electric utilities to support, EVSE in underserved urban and rural communities. "

• Require recharging infrastructure for commercial and multi-family buildings where parking is provided in new buildings. Seattle currently requires conduit, but not wiring or panel capacity.

• Seattle City Light could reduce costs of installation of rechargers by doing volume purchasing.

• Seattle City Light could shift to charge of electricity by time of use, which would make it cheaper to recharge overnight, and also even out the demand on the grid. Here's an article, a little out of date, with some information about it. Seattle has completed a study on the impact of rate design, and is in the process of doing pilot studies on this.

To Do List

• Understand the permitting process for installing a recharger in Seattle. This is a major cost in other localities.

Current Programs

• Seattle City Light has approved a Transportation Electrification Strategic Investment Plan, and it is now empowered to offer incentives for electric vehicle adoption. 

• The State has building code rules that specify a minimum amount of charging infrastructure that must be provided for new apartment buildings with more than two units, or for hotel/motels.

• The City also has building code rules for chargers, that apply in addition to the State code and require a minimum number of EV-ready parking places, if parking is provided.

• The State charges EV vehicles a $75/year fee on their vehicle licenses that funds a grant program for electric vehicle charging infrastructure.

• King County Operations Electric Vehicle Policy —includes installation of 125 chargers at King County owned Park and Rides by 2030

 In the Media

• From the New York Times, ‘Charger Desert’ in Big Cities Keeps Electric Cars From Mainstream.

• This is an article on why installing recharging stations is more expensive than it should be. 

• Seattle City Light did a study with the Rocky Mountain Institute on strategies for transportation electrification.

• Here's one Seattle condo owner's 4-year story of getting recharging to the parking for his condo.

• Electrify Now

• Carbon Brief, Fact Check: How Electric Vehicles help to tackle climate change. Good article on lifecycle emissions from vehicles in different locations.

Programs Elsewhere

• California has a right to charge that allows tenants (and condo owners) to install recharging facilities at their expense if the parking is included with the rent. New York, Colorado, Florida, Virginia, Oregon, and Boston (MA) all have similar laws that apply for condo owners only.