New Illinois homes must be able to handle EV charging, bill says

Jul 28, 2023

by: Jack Baudoin

Posted: May 6, 2023 / 01:42 PM CDT

Updated: May 25, 2023 / 04:41 PM CDT

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (WTVO) — A bill on Illinois Governor JB Pritzker's desk said that newly constructed homes in the state must have the means to charge electric vehicles.

The "Electric Vehicle Charging Act" passed the House on Thursday with a 69-38 vote, according to the Chicago Tribune. It requires newly built homes to offer at least "one EV-capable parking space for each residential unit that has dedicated parking."

A large multifamily home must have all of its parking spaces be able to charge electric vehicles.

"This is a bill that reflects our future, and future-proofs the future with electric vehicles in this state," said Senator Sara Feigenholtz, chief sponsor of this bill. "This sort of trickles down to my constituents."

However, not all Republicans agreed with Democrat Feignholtz's resonsing.

"If less than 1% of cars on the road are EVs, and less than 0.1% of cars in my district are EVs, I just don't see why we’re having people in downstate Illinois pay for this infrastructure," said Representative Travis Weaver.

Paying for the charging system would be left to the residence's owner. They would have to either pay for the dismantling of the charging station, or sell it to the landlord or a different tenant, if they want to move.

This is not the first step that Pritzker has taken towards clean energy in state. He signed a bill back in 2021 that would provide incentives aimed at increasing EV production in the state, with a goal of having 1 million electric vehicles on the road by 2030.

There are currently only 68,000 registered electric vehicles in the state.

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