How Some Simple Changes to Building Codes Could Revolutionize the Electric Car Market

Right now, electric vehicles (EVs) make up one half to 1.5 percent of the U.S. automobile market, depending on how the numbers are sliced and diced.  They do a bit better in the high-end market specifically, reaching roughly 5.5 percent to 8.5 percent.  Tesla aims its cars at the wealthier slice, and there’s a general assumption that price is a major hurdle for EVs — hence the ongoing technological efforts to bring down the cost of batteries, which make up a big portion of any EV’s price tag.

But once the federal tax credit is accounted for, the Nissan Leaf and the Chevy Volt are already both affordable for as much as three-fourths of American car customers.

The next obvious question is infrastructure — specifically, the need for public charging stations.

But according to Britta Gross — a former member of General Motor’s research and development team, and now head of infrastructure development — most EV customers only spend a tiny portion of their charging time at public stations.  Research into EV use by the Department of Energy shows that, when charging is available at home, 84 percent of it is done there.

For the 30 percent of American families who live in apartments, condominiums, and other multifamily dwellings and park in lots and building garages, access to an outlet its far harder to come by.  The same goes for the parking lots and garages where most Americans work.

“Honestly, an outlet with any other modification you’re doing to a parking lot or to a building or whatever,” Gross said, “that costs pennies to install.”

Some state laws are looking to improve the situation.

How Some Simple Changes to Building Codes Could Revolutionize the Electric Car Market