New homes built in Kelowna will be required to have an energized charging outlet for electric vehicles.
City councilors on Monday endorsed the idea, presented by staff as a way to reduce greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to climate change.
Council heard that requiring new homes – both single-family and parking stalls in multi-family developments – to have energized EV outlets would likely add up to $1,500 to the cost of a new house.
“This will increase the cost of development,” Coun Luke Stack said. “That’s just one of the realities.
“I’m always struggling with something like this,” he said. “We want to do something right one way, which is to reduce our greenhouse gases, but it has a negative impact on the cost of housing, which is another thing we’re concerned about.
“So we’re always trying to wriggle down that middle,” Stack said.
Going forward, he suggested, the city should seek to allay concerns about the additional cost to housing construction by pointing out what he said were the considerable cost savings that can come with owning an electric vehicle compared to a gas-powered one, “particularly now with the cost of gas going up.”
Every parking space for a new home would have to be built with a 220 volt to 240 volt outlet to facilitate charging for electric vehicles, council heard. The city predicts that 25,000 new homes will be built in Kelowna between now and 2040.
About 12% of vehicles sold in BC last year were zero emission vehicles.
More detail on the proposal to require EV-ready outlets in new homes will be brought back to council before the necessary changes are made to city building regulations.
