WASHINGTON — The D.C. Council is looking to pass legislation in 2023 that helps combat climate change by making it easier and more accessible for people in the District to own electric cars. The latest initiative is a bill that could lead to a minimum of 7,500 charging stations for the vehicles in every part of D.C. by 2027.
The legislation was introduced by Councilmember Charles Allen, with every member of Council signed on as a co-introducer.
The “Comprehensive Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Access, Readiness, and Sustainability Amendment Act of 2023” would dramatically scale up the number of electric vehicle charging stations in the city.
According to a news release from Allen, in 2021, the District had somewhere between 5,200 and 6,000 electric vehicles on the road, but only around 250 charging locations. In addition, the Transportation Planning Board for the region said that D.C. needs 90% of vehicles to be electric by 2040 to meet climate change targets.
As consumer preferences and federal incentives work to transition personal vehicles from gas-consuming cars to electric, the District quickly needs to add the supportive infrastructure necessary to make that transition smooth.
“To support a big increase in EVs, charging infrastructure needs to become as common and reliable as we think about gas stations today," said Councilmember Allen. "But unlike gas stations, we can deploy EV charging to better fit into our city, including in and around our homes and neighborhoods.”
The bill was first introduced late last year. Here is what it includes:
- Expand the District’s Electric Vehicle Charging Station Pilot Program to allow DDOT to use federal infrastructure money to rapidly deploy EV charging stations in areas lacking EV infrastructure beginning in 2024, specifically at least four charging stations in each Ward.
- Require installation or consideration of installation in all major streetscape projects moving forward.
- Direct DDOT to create and publish an Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Deployment and Management Plan in 2024 to help the District assess the electric grid’s readiness and resiliency for EV charging. The plan will identify future charging station locations with equity as a priority and would be required to be updated every three years.
- Establish an Electric Vehicle Charging Station Grant Program to be administered by DDOT and available to District residents, nonprofits, certified business enterprises, and others to incentivize the purchase, installation, and upgrades of EV charging stations.
- Require all new or substantially upgraded commercial and multi-unit dwellings that have parking lots to include even more EV charging infrastructure than the law currently does, as well as infrastructure that accommodates future EV charging stations.
- Create a permitting requirement for newly built or renovated single-family homes with dedicated off-road parking to be EV-charging ready.
- Give renters the right to install EV charging stations at their place of residence, with reasonable requirements and safety restrictions by landlords.
- Allow condominium owners and homeowners who are part of a condo association or community association to install EV charging stations with reasonable requirements and safety restrictions by condo or co-op boards.