LETTER TO THE EDITOR

The JOLT's EV story was misleading

Posted

Your headline for the recent story about the Planning Commission's discussion of requirements for installing wiring during construction to prepare new buildings for adding EV chargers eventually is quite misleading.

What the story actually says about the focus groups' responses to the proposal for new multifamily housing is "...nine participants felt this was 'too ambitious'; seven felt it was 'just right'; three said they were unsure and wanted additional information". That's a long way from "Community says EV-parking proposal for multifamily dwellings 'too ambitious'"!

Unfortunately, the story also fails to explain why installing the capacity for adding a lot of chargers later when you're constructing the building is a good idea. As the staff report says, "EV-readiness retrofits can be up to eight times more expensive than new construction, increasing costs by $900 to $5,000 per space.

Increased costs for retrofits are attributed to breaking and repairing walls, parking surfaces, and sidewalks, as well as electrical service upgrades, more expensive methods of conduit installation, and additional permitting and inspection." Many more people will be driving EVs during the lifetime of the buildings we're putting up now, and being able to plug the cars and pickups in when they get home and just leave them to charge overnight will be by far the cheapest and easiest way for people to drive.

Building owners will save a lot of money in the long run by putting in the wiring now to get ready to install those chargers eventually.

Thad Curtz, Olympia

The opinions above are, of course, those of the writer and not The JOLT. Got something you want to get off your chest? Write it up and send it to us. We'll likely run it the same day we get it. 

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