{"id":265278,"date":"2026-04-13T08:24:09","date_gmt":"2026-04-13T08:24:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/265278\/"},"modified":"2026-04-13T08:24:09","modified_gmt":"2026-04-13T08:24:09","slug":"california-bill-would-limit-ev-charging-access-in","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/265278\/","title":{"rendered":"California bill would limit EV-charging access in\u2026"},"content":{"rendered":"

As of January, California requires<\/a> developers of new multifamily buildings to ensure that residents with parking have access to EV charging at home. It\u2019s one of the most equitable EV-charging policies in the nation, according to climate advocates.<\/p>\n

But in a\u00a0bid to reduce costs for builders, a\u00a0state lawmaker introduced a\u00a0bill in February that would waive those requirements for affordable housing construction until at least\u00a02036.<\/p>\n

Most households don\u2019t have EVs yet, but the vehicles are growing in popularity, their costs are falling<\/a>, and local rebates<\/a> are making them more affordable. Clean-driving proponents say the current state policy, which requires outlets for EVs to plug into, is crucial to ensure that residents of affordable housing units can easily transition to electric cars and reap the benefits.<\/p>\n

\u201cCalifornia shouldn\u2019t drop back,\u201d said Linda Hutchins-Knowles, co-leader of the nonprofit National Charging Access Coalition. \u200b\u201cWe have the most expensive cost of living in the country. We need to reduce costs for residents of apartments and condos, especially in affordable housing, by giving them access to the lowest-cost charging for the lowest-cost vehicles<\/a>, which are used EVs<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

In California, where gas is nearly $6 a\u00a0gallon, EVs are taking off<\/a>. They made up nearly one-fifth of new cars sold in the last quarter of 2025. Even given the state\u2019s high electricity prices, EVs can cut the cost of driving<\/a> in half. And drivers benefit most when they can charge at home: It\u2019s both more convenient and cheaper than using public chargers<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Now, for affordable housing projects with parking, developers must install one EV-charging outlet per residence that can provide low-power Level 2\u00a0EV charging (20 amps, 240 volts). These outlets deliver a\u00a0charging speed that\u2019s in between<\/a> what you\u2019d get from a\u00a0full Level 2\u00a0charging outlet (40 amps, 240 volts) and a\u00a0standard 120-volt outlet.<\/p>\n

Assembly Bill 2748<\/a>, sponsored by Democratic Assembly Member Sharon Quirk-Silva, would instead allow developers to follow the weaker 2022 building code, which doesn\u2019t require any EV-charging infrastructure for up to 60% of parking spaces. Quirk-Silva did not respond to multiple requests for comment on the bill, which will be heard in committee on April\u00a022.<\/p>\n

The state has required<\/a> new single-family homes, duplexes, and town houses to be built with an outlet for EV charging since the 2016 code. The latest code update \u200b\u201cfinally extended that courtesy to people who live in apartments,\u201d said Sean Armstrong, managing principal of Redwood Energy, a\u00a0design firm specializing in net-zero, all-electric affordable housing development.<\/p>\n

If passed, AB 2748 could affect millions of Californians who move into affordable housing units constructed in the next decade. By 2030 alone, the state aims to build an additional 1\u00a0million units for low-income households.<\/p>\n

The California Council for Affordable Housing, an industry trade group that supports waiving the EV-charging requirement, says the bill is necessary to ease economic pressure on developers. \u200b\u201cWithout this exemption, affordable housing projects, already operating within razor\u2011thin financial margins, would face substantial and unnecessary cost burdens,\u201d the group wrote in a\u00a0Feb. 25 post<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The EV-charging requirement does increase project costs \u2014 by about $1,000 to $2,500 per unit, said Armstrong, who has consulted on hundreds of housing projects. But these expenses add just 0.2% to 0.5% to the total project cost, he\u00a0noted.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"As of January, California requires developers of new multifamily buildings to ensure that residents with parking have access…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":265279,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[7,9,8],"class_list":{"0":"post-265278","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-california","8":"tag-california","9":"tag-california-headlines","10":"tag-california-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/265278","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=265278"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/265278\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/265279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=265278"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=265278"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=265278"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}