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As of January, California requires developers of new multifamily buildings to ensure that residents with parking have access to EV charging at home. It’s one of the most equitable EV-charging policies in the nation, according to climate advocates.
But in a bid to reduce costs for builders, a state lawmaker introduced a bill in February that would waive those requirements for affordable housing construction until at least 2036.
Most households don’t have EVs yet, but the vehicles are growing in popularity, their costs are falling, and local rebates are making them more affordable. Clean-driving proponents say the current state policy, which requires outlets for EVs to plug into, is crucial to ensure that residents of affordable housing units can easily transition to electric cars and reap the benefits.
“California shouldn’t drop back,” said Linda Hutchins-Knowles, co-leader of the nonprofit National Charging Access Coalition. ​“We have the most expensive cost of living in the country. We need to reduce costs for residents of apartments and condos, especially in affordable housing, by giving them access to the lowest-cost charging for the lowest-cost vehicles, which are used EVs.”
In California, where gas is nearly $6 a gallon, EVs are taking off. They made up nearly one-fifth of new cars sold in the last quarter of 2025. Even given the state’s high electricity prices, EVs can cut the cost of driving in half. And drivers benefit most when they can charge at home: It’s both more convenient and cheaper than using public chargers.
Now, affordable housing developers must install one EV-charging outlet per residence with parking that can provide low-power Level 2 EV charging (20 amps, 240 volts). These outlets deliver a charging speed that’s in between what you’d get from a full Level 2 charging outlet (40 amps, 240 volts) and a standard 120-volt outlet.
Assembly Bill 2748, sponsored by Democratic Assembly Member Sharon Quirk-Silva, would instead allow developers to follow the weaker 2022 building code, which doesn’t require any EV-charging infrastructure for up to 60% of parking spaces. Quirk-Silva did not respond to multiple requests for comment on the bill, which will be heard in committee on April 22.
The state has required new single-family homes, duplexes, and town houses to be built with an outlet for EV charging since the 2016 code. The latest code update ​“finally extended that courtesy to people who live in apartments,” said Sean Armstrong, managing principal of Redwood Energy, a design firm specializing in net-zero, all-electric affordable housing development.
If passed, AB 2748 could affect millions of Californians who move into affordable housing units constructed in the next decade. By 2030 alone, the state aims to build an additional 1 million units for low-income households.
The California Council for Affordable Housing, an industry trade group that supports waiving the EV-charging requirement, says the bill is necessary to ease economic pressure on developers. ​“Without this exemption, affordable housing projects, already operating within razor‑thin financial margins, would face substantial and unnecessary cost burdens,” the group wrote in a Feb. 25 post.
The EV-charging requirement does increase project costs — by about $1,000 to $2,500 per unit, said Armstrong, who has consulted on hundreds of housing projects. But these expenses add just 0.2% to 0.5% to the total project cost, he noted.
Adding EV-charging outlets after construction is challenging, as it requires digging up concrete, trenching, laying down conduit, and other changes, Hutchins-Knowles said. Plus, retrofits can be several times the cost of up-front installations, according to Peninsula Clean Energy, a public power agency in the San Francisco Bay Area.
The new bill is the latest example of the brewing tension between California’s pro-electrification building standards and its efforts to ease the housing crisis.
Last June, lawmakers passed a housing reform law meant to spur supply. As part of that policy, the state will skip the 2028 building code cycle, ceding the chance to push developers further toward fossil fuel–free buildings. Some legislators said the move would make housing more affordable. But climate advocates said there’s little evidence to back up that claim.
Debate over what services to install in low-income buildings stretches back even further.
Until the mid-1900s, building developers across the country often constructed housing without complete plumbing, including running hot water. People living in these cold-water flats had to heat water on wood- and coal-burning stoves for bathing, cooking, and cleaning. But cities and states eventually decided that hot water was a basic necessity, not a luxury only wealthier homes should have.
“It was a deep inequity that was fixed by building codes,” Hutchins-Knowles said. ​“No one argues that to make affordable housing less expensive, we should exempt them from providing hot water.”
“Everyone deserves charging at their house,” said Marc Geller, board member of EV-advocacy organization Plug In America.
Hutchins-Knowles predicts that higher gas prices will drive a surge of interest in EVs. As in the past, legislators need to take the long view for low-income renters, she said. ​“We shouldn’t block out the people who can least afford to pay more for transportation.”
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