Cupertino buildings prepare for electric-vehicle charging stations

Electrical vehicles could rule the roads of the future, and city staff wants new buildings in Cupertino to be ready.

The city council voted March 4 to amend its municipal code with an ordinance that requires pre-wiring for electric-vehicle charging systems in new buildings. The city rationale is that doing the wiring ahead of time would lower the cost for the future installation of those systems.

New single-, two-and multi-family dwellings as well as new non-residential buildings will need to have conduits, wires or dedicated circuits installed from the main building electrical panel out to a parking area.

New multi-family dwellings will need to devote 5 percent of their parking spaces, or at least one parking space, for such wiring. The figure for new non-residential buildings is at least 10 percent of parking spaces.

Cupertino is not alone in this initiative. Other jurisdictions that have adopted or are in the process of adopting similar ordinance are Sunnyvale, Palo Alto and Santa Clara County.

Sunnyvale's ordinance requires pre-wiring for electric-vehicle chargers for residential garage carports, residential shared parking facilities and new industrial, research and development and office buildings with 100 parking spaces or more, according to city staff.

The ordinance specifically amends Chapter 16.58, Title 16, Buildings and Construction, of the Cupertino Municipal Code relating to "Plug-in Electric Vehicle Charging Systems." The ordinance will be given a second reading at a future city council meeting.

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Cupertino buildings prepare for electric-vehicle charging stations