County Council approves requirement for electric vehicle charging in new development

Sunday, August 28, 2022

When new development happens in unincorporated King County, much of it will now need to include charging stations for electric vehicles, a nod toward a future shifting away from fossil fuels and toward electric power.

The King County Council recently approved legislation adding requirements for much of new development in unincorporated King County to include charging stations and dedicated parking for electric vehicles. 

The legislation pushes toward one of the key goals of the Council’s Strategic Climate Action Plan.

Councilmember Jeanne Kohl-Welles sponsored the legislation along with Councilmembers Reagan Dunn and Rod Dembowski. 

“As electric vehicles become more common, affordable, and in-demand, this legislation will ensure that eco-friendly infrastructure exists in King County and that individuals are supported as they transition to more sustainable alternatives.”

Specifically, the legislation would require that new or substantially remodeled apartment buildings make 10% of parking spaces capable of charging electric vehicles (meaning they include all needed equipment to connect and charge) and 25% of spaces EV-ready (meaning the infrastructure is in place to install a charger at some future time).

"The pace of transportation electrification is growing exponentially,” said King County Councilmember Rod Dembowski. “This legislation is essential to build the infrastructure King County needs to lead the nation in decarbonizing our transportation network. As we are now seeing, our planet can't wait."

With a countywide target of having all light-duty vehicles sold by 2035 be electric, charging infrastructure is critical to making EVs accessible to more drivers.



1 comments:

Anonymous,  August 28, 2022 at 6:43 PM  

King County, like many communities, have reduced the number of required parking spots for multi-family dwellings (apartment bldgs) because they are trying to reduce the number of automobiles. Many new developments have less than one parking spot per unit. Because they are idiot politicians, they just push the cars out onto the street parking.
Now that they have forced on-street parking, are they going to put in on-street charging?

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