USA's Building Codes Go Greener | Car Charging Points
San Francisco has adopted building codes requiring all new homes and
offices to be wired for electric car chargers, in an attempt to
position itself as America's green car capital.
The move comes in advance of the release this year of the Nissan
Leaf and Chevy Volt, which promise to deliver driving distances of
40 miles or more on a single battery charge and are being marketed
to middle-class families.
Local authorities are launching a lending scheme next month to
encourage homeowners to install their own charging stations.
"If you want to put an electric charging station in your home in
anticipation of all these electric vehicles, you can do it through
this green financing programmed," said San Francisco's mayor, Gavin
Newsom.
Newsom bought his own electric car a decade ago, and car charging
stations were installed outside city hall last year.
The move further solidifies California's reputation as America's
greenest state. Over the past 30 years it has led the country in
putting limits on vehicle emissions, and imposing higher efficiency
standards for homes and appliances such as flat screen TVs.
Few people are predicting widespread adoption of electric cars by
Americans – at least in the immediate future. But the launch of the
electric vehicles is also concentrating minds in other cities, such
as Houston, San Diego and Portland, Oregon, which are expected to
lead demand for the new technology.
Urban planners and electricity companies there are beginning to make
preparations, with charging stations as well as contingency planning
in case an ageing electrical supply grid is overloaded.
"I have talked to energy executives who are very fearful about what
will happen even if you get past 1,000 vehicles," said Terry
Tamminen, who advises California's governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger,
on energy and environment. "People can't be trusted to charge only
at night and discharge in the day."
San Francisco's main supplier, Pacific Gas & Electric, is sketching
out "heat maps" of neighborhoods at risk of overloads or blackouts
when suburban motorists begin plugging in their cars. It can take
eight hours, drawing only on regular power supply, to charge up an
electric car, though dedicated charging stations take only a
fraction of that time.
The forward planning in such cities runs counter to the steadily
accumulating evidence in Washington that Barack Obama's efforts to
green America's economy is sputtering to a halt.
There is also skepticism that Obama will be able to deliver on his
promise to put 1m electric vehicles on the road by 2015.But beyond
Washington, a number of American cities and states are driving
ahead. Nissan's president, Carlos Ghosn, has predicted that as many
as 10% of sales will be electric vehicles by 2020.
Most of those new cars are expected to be clustered in a few cities
to make it easier to supply dealerships and repair centers, and
northern California motorists have already demonstrated a taste for
driving green.
The mayors of San Francisco, Oakland and San Jose pledged a year ago
to make their metropolitan area the country's electric car capital.
One in five cars sold in the Berkeley area are Toyota Prius. At the
luxury end, Tesla Motors, makers of the $100,000 electric sports
car, has sold 150 models in the San Francisco area. Tesla was hit by
its own tragedy today, when three of its employees, including one
high-ranking executive, were killed in a plane crash.
San Jose now reserves parking spots for electric vehicles and major
employers are installing workplace charging stations. At Google,
employees can already drive to work in one of the modified Priuses
owned by the company – and then pull into one of 100 solar-powered
parking spots and charge up.