The International Code Council-or ICC-in the U.S. just changed their building standards so that every home should be wired for at least one electric car.
That’s potentially a big deal. Homes in the U.S. generally do very little wiring to the garage and its much the same here in Australia.
The ICC based its decision on the world’s rapid electrification. For example the U.S. will need 9.6M new electric vehicle charging ports by 2030 and almost 80% of those will be in single and multi-family residential buildings.
Of course the guidelines are still voluntary but they should become influential. They call for installing panels, outlets, and conduits capable of charging at least one full-size EV in a single-family garage overnight.
Multi-family buildings will need two spots, along with more that can be easily retrofitted in what’s known as “EV capable.” Homeowners will still need to install their own EV charging equipment.
You can expect big builders to take note. And that will make a big difference to EV uptake as ‘range anxiety’ is still the biggest consumer hurdle says all the research.
The new EV-ready provisions will appear this October as part of the 2021 International Codes. The flow on effect in all states should follow fairly quickly is the expert opinion given pent up demand and the expected cost savings.
In fact building codes requiring EV-ready construction already exist in Atlanta, Denver, Seattle and California.
Here in Australia we’ve already created the wiring standard for electric cars in our Home Wiring Essentials.
In other words the hard work has already been done. Over to you Building Code of Australia!