San Jose may soon see a major expansion of electric vehicle charging capacity as drivers in the city continue to shift away from traditional gas-engine cars.
A proposed ordinance would require new San Jose developments to install an EV charging outlet next to every resident parking space. Elected officials say the new requirements will help encourage EV ownership among renters, who usually don’t have easy access to charging compared to single-family homeowners. EV drivers in apartment buildings generally rely on public charging infrastructure, an inconvenience that Councilmember David Cohen says is a barrier to the widespread adoption of the cars as the city seeks to go carbon neutral by the end of the decade.
“We know that the widespread adoption of electric vehicles is important to decarbonize our transportation infrastructure,” said Cohen. “There’s a feeling that EVs are out of reach for renters or lower-income people. I think we can overcome that.”
The proposal, which would impact developments with four or more units of housing, will come before the City Council on Jan. 23. If passed, developers would need to install low power Level 2 charging outlets at the apartment’s parking spaces. City officials estimated a six-hour charge on the outlets would offer around 40 to 50 miles of range for an electric vehicle. At least 20 percent of guest parking would need the outlets.
The outlets don’t offer as much energy as more powerful Level 2 chargers or Level 3, known as superchargers, but were chosen by the city to cut down on impact to the electrical grid. California is currently dealing with questions surrounding its grid capacity as communities continue to electrify their infrastructure. San Jose is also currently exploring a municipally-owned electric utility that would service infrastructure in the downtown and northern part of the city.
Barry Cinnamon, owner of Los Gatos-based solar-rooftop business Cinnamon Energy Systems, said the Level 1 chargers shouldn’t be too onerous to the city’s grid if the system is built to handle surges in use.
“It is pretty manageable,” he said about the new law’s impact. “If you have 100 people all at once, that adds up a lot, so there may be chargers that have some sort of intelligence. Those are possible technical solutions.”
According to city estimates, installation of the outlets would amount to roughly three-fourths to one percent of the total cost of construction for a developer. Residents with reserved parking spaces will be charged directly through their utility bill, said officials, while costs associated with public spaces will be decided through the building’s owners.
The change comes as San Jose drivers increasingly are turning towards EVs and the city tries to build a climate-conscious infrastructure.
According to city estimates, around 30 percent of new cars registered in San Jose since the spring of 2022 were electric. Data from the state shows Santa Clara County residents as one of the top purchasers of EVs. By 2035, California will prohibit the sale of all gasoline-powered cars.
In November 2021, San Jose and a handful of other cities committed to becoming carbon neutral by 2030, meaning it would emit the same amount of carbon dioxide that it offsets through the generation of solar electricity and EV ownership.
