Happy New Year! Another new year, another terrific new law takes effect in Illinois. It contains similar EV friendly “right to charge” components as in nine other states, but also takes an innovative step beyond that. (For background on the various states’ right-to-charge laws Plug in America may be a good source — though it hasn’t added Illinois yet.)
The law is fairly readable. It addresses many types of housing but this diary will keep the scope to single family homes. The gist is simple: all new single family detached house construction is required to have the appropriate 240V wiring installed for at least one parking space. That makes the space “EV-capable” (Sec. 15). The law DOES NOT require any charger to be installed. So a charger or “EVSE” (electric vehicle supply equipment) can be installed any time the homeowner damn well pleases, or not at all.
With a charger and 240V circuit, Level 2 charging will be capable of charging an EV to 80% in 7-10 hours. This Level 2 standard is what virtually everyone thinks about first with charging at home, but some people with lower mileage requirements may often get by with Level 1. (My friend Didi charged from 42% to 57% in 12 hours one cold night in mid December using the charging cable that came with her VW ID.4 to connect to a garage 110-120 outlet.)
What would be installed?
This looks to me simply as a 240V circuit connected from the house main service panel to an outlet or equivalent in the garage.
How much cost does it add to construction costs?
You folks tell me! I’m thinking low hundreds because a garage will have other circuits to be wired and all this is so much simpler and easier before the drywall goes on.
How does this benefit the home owner?
Many EV drivers are finding home chargers the easiest way to get reliable charging when they need it. Public charging networks still have some challenges and in some areas do not seem to be keeping up with the pace of EV adoption. Some car manuals state that over time fast DC charging at public stations degrades the battery capacity a bit more than AC Levels 1 or 2.
Given the obvious future of EVs, this will also add some resale value to a new home for a comparitively low initial cost. A future prospective home buyer with an EV will be looking for this feature, and this would save them extra cost and hassle of retrofitting it. Retrofit job estimates like this seem to be in the low thousands. I tend to think most people building a new home in the last five or so years would have asked their contractor to install this circuit even without the law.
In addition to EV charging, could the circuit be set up when needed for use with 240V power tools like table saws, etc? Anyone know?
How does this help EV adoption?
New single family home construction in Illinois for one year amounts to a very small fraction, about 0.3 to 0.7%, of existing single family homes. But the law also applies to new small multi-family construction. Most payoff may be for condo owners or renters who will face lower barriers to install charging via the “right to charge” provisions.
This new law is a small but welcome step forward and along with inducements for EV purchase and charging from the state it will help smooth the path for more EV adoption. Illinois is near the end of one cycle of rebates, but I believe another one will be coming later in 2024.
States have often been the laboratories of democracy. Now more than ever we have to be. We are always focused on national electoral politics at DK, but it is also vital that we grasp our own agency to keep advancing locally and in our blue states. School boards, unions, employee owned cooperatives, and other institutions can also strengthen democracy. Several citizen groups participated in the development of this bill and after House Majority Leader Robyn Gabel introduced it two years ago it underwent some smart modifications. I am so grateful for the work and advocacy of all these people.