There are currently about 50 locations around Tucson where electric vehicle owners can charge up their cars, but that’s about to change.
“More and more of our vehicles are moving to EV. More and more of Tucson’s residents choose to use electric vehicles,” said City of Tucson Planning and Development Services Planning Administrator Koren Manning.
The mayor and council have recently approved an amendment to code which will require new commercial, multifamily, office and retail developments to install charging stations or reserve the ability to do so.
“Most of the requirements are geared toward multifamily. At multifamily complexes, going forward, there is a requirement that 10% of the parking spaces be equipped with an EV outlet and that 20% of the spaces have conduit, so they can be converted to an EV space in the future,” said Manning.
However, the decision didn’t come without push back. The Tucson Metro Chamber of Commerce believes the new requirements will have consequences.
“The bottom line is this is going to be costly,” said Tucson Metro Chamber of Commerce Director of Government Affairs Alexa Scholl.
“I think particularly in the multifamily situation, we are in a pretty considerable housing affordability crisis, and this is going to add cost to building multifamily projects.”
Despite this, the city still believes that this is a step in the right direction and will encourage its residents to use clean transportation.
Accessibility to charging infrastructure is an issue many faces, and therefore, if residents know that their new home or shops have EV infrastructure it is hoped to make it easier for people to make the transition towards electrification.
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