Dallas Council Balks at Staff Suggestion to Require Electric Vehicle Wiring in Newly Built Homes

A proposed requirement for builders to create “electric vehicle-ready” space when constructing new homes — thus passing a cost of about $800 to homebuyers who might never purchase an electric vehicle — was amended by the Dallas City Council in an effort to remain committed to its goal of providing affordable housing. 

A change to the Dallas Building Code was proposed during an April 12 Dallas City Council meeting and ultimately amended with the language “electric vehicle-capable” rather than “electric vehicle-ready.”

District 7 Councilman Adam Bazaldua cast the lone vote against the amendment, saying in addition to promoting affordable housing, the council also has committed to a Comprehensive Environmental and Climate Action Plan, which calls for lowering emissions. 

It’s going to cost even more for homeowners to upgrade the electrical wiring later rather than including the upgrade when the walls are open at the time of the build, the councilman explained. 

“This is not an attack on any one party in the deal,” Bazaldua said. “If there’s an expense that’s added to the builders’ front end, we all know how that plays out. It’s passed to the consumer. That’s how people make money. But it is essentially ignoring the needs of the homeowners that will potentially be benefited by this being included in the build.”

District 1 Councilman Chad West, who introduced the amended language, said he supports the CECAP “but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t review the ordinances that come out of CECAP with a sanity check to make sure they make sense with our other policies.

“Housing, at least in my mind, is our No. 1 priority as a city right now,” he said. 

Affordable Housing

David Lehde, director of government affairs for the Dallas Builders Association, said EV charging technology is changing rapidly and it’s not prudent to wire a home today for tomorrow’s technology. Additionally, certain electrical components are in short supply and rising in price, he said.

“We have strong concerns that the City of Dallas should focus on building homes for working families,” Lehde said. “Currently the median cost for an electric vehicle is $58,000, which is roughly what the average American worker makes in an entire year. I know there are concerns about cost pass-on to a homeowner. I would point out that if you leave the language unamended and require this, that cost will be passed on to the homebuyer. That is how it works generally when you do construction. If you leave it in there and don’t change it, you also ensure that every resident who is buying a new home constructed in the City of Dallas is paying for that material, regardless of their intent in choice or means to purchase an electric vehicle.”

Texas A&M’s Texas Real Estate Research Center estimates that for every $1,000 added to the price of a home at finish-out, up to 25,000 Texas families are priced out of purchasing a home. 

Policy Discussion

City Manager T.C. Broadnax pointed out that EV-ready stations already are required in new construction for multi-family development, and the council had extensive discussions during last year’s budget cycle about upgrading the city’s fleet to electric vehicles. 

“It would be helpful for us if we could get consistent and clear guidance as it relates to the intentions and the things that we bring forward, particularly when we believe they’re in the spirit of what the City Council has asked us to do,” Broadnax said. 

District 12 Councilwoman Cara Mendelsohn, who supported the amended proposal, said research shows only about 1 percent of motorists in the U.S. are using electric vehicles. 

“We just had a very unfortunate discussion about housing policy, because we were talking about housing affordability,” Mendelsohn said. “We’re talking about something that will add significantly to the price of single-family homes. I’m just trying to understand why we would do this at this time. If you want to bring it up in a couple of years, that makes sense. I don’t see why it makes sense today.”

Chief Building Official Andrew Espinoza said international building codes are adopted every three years. The proposal was brought forth by code professionals across the country. 

“We did receive feedback and the consensus was to leave it as is,” he said. “The biggest difference is whether it’s EV-ready, which is turnkey, or EV-capable, which means an electrician would have to be hired later to run the conduits and install the overcurrent protection and the receptacle. It would not require them cutting into the walls. It would require the installation of the cabling system.”

West said he was concerned about imposing a construction mandate that could financially impact new homebuyers who might never purchase an EV.

“I think it’s a great goal that everyone will drive electric vehicles in the future, but it’s not a realistic goal right now for every homeowner,” he said. “When you weigh the balance of getting people into homes for the first time on a limited income versus the goal of having electric vehicles in every home, to me, getting people into the homes is the priority. Then those who can afford the expense of the electric vehicle, the additional cost should be on them to complete what you need to charge the vehicle.”