The Big Apple is going electric.
New York City Council is considering a bill known as Local Law 55, which would require owners of parking garages and open parking lots with 10 or more spaces that are licensed by the Department of Consumer and Worker Protection (DCWP) to install Electric Vehicle Supply Equipment (EVSE) in 20% of parking spots and ensure 40% of parking spots are capable of supporting EVSE by January 1, 2035.
This bill would allow for adjustments or waivers to this requirement under outlined circumstances, such as structural infeasibility. For parking garages and open parking lots not licensed by DCWP, various agencies would be required to conduct a study and issue a report no later than two years after the effective date of this local law to recommend the required level of EVSE installation.
The Department of Buildings (DOB) would be mandated to issue rules to enforce requirements for parking garages and open parking lots not licensed by DCWP by January 1, 2027. Lastly, the bill would obligate DOB to provide an annual report on the installation of EVSE.
According to a Propmodo article about the pending law, more parking garage owners have already been installing EV chargers due primarily to the incentives offered by the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) and ConEdison, one of New York’s largest utility providers.
ConEdison offers an EV Ready program to subsidize the cost owners faced when installing new chargers. And NYSERDA offers a program that heavily subsidizes chargers.
“NYSERDA was basically handing away Level 2 chargers,” Vinod Palal, Principal and Senior Electrical Engineer at New York-based consulting engineering firm, Goldman Copeland, told Propmodo.
Local Law 55 builds on Local Law 130, which passed in 2013 and requires owners of parking garages or lots to make electrical modifications to include the electrical capacity needed to make at least 20 percent of the parking spaces EV-ready.
Palal told Propmodo that he interprets Local Law 55 as being retroactive, applying not just to new buildings but also existing ones with parking areas. The law does not indicate what, if any, punitive damages owners could incur if they fail to comply with the law.
Palal said that his firm has already received calls from lot owners as well as residential building owners looking to understand how the law will affect them.
“Mostly we hear ‘do I have to do this?’ because of the costs involved,” he said.
There were 200,000 EVs on New York’s roads as of February 2024, according to the New York Power Authority. The city has responded to the influx of EVs by investing in infrastructure to support them, including the city’s largest public EV charging station near JFK airport.
According to a press release issued by the city, local developer Wildflower was selected to develop the station which initially will feature 65 EV-ready charging stations, including 12 rapid charging stations, available 24/7 and designed to expand over time to support other vehicles including electric trucks as demand for these sites grows.
“…By 2040 New York City's economy is projected to have 400,000 green jobs and this project near JFK exemplifies the true power of EV charging, a technological innovation that will reduce carbon emissions and lead to thousands of more green collar jobs to design, install, maintain and upgrade critical climate infrastructure,” said Deputy Mayor of Housing, Economic Development and Workforce, Maria Torres-Springer.
“Wildflower’s electric vehicle charging development is a prime example of how committed New York City is in meeting our goals in the Green Economy Action Plan while positioning the city as a global model in sustainability and carbon neutrality,” added NYCEDC President & CEO Andrew Kimball. “This development represents a unique opportunity to transform a manufacturing-zoned property into the city’s largest electric vehicle charging station and we look forward to working with Wildflower on the transformation of this space and providing the community with much-needed parking space.”
Whether you’re putting EV chargers in a parking garage or in a purpose-built charging station, knowing what’s buried on your job site is critical to ensuring your project stays on time, on budget, and safe.
GPRS provides 99.8%-accurate utility locating and precision concrete scanning services to protect you and your project from the dangers of subsurface damage. Utilizing ground penetrating radar (GPR) scanning and electromagnetic (EM) locating, our SIM-certified Project Managers create a complete and accurate map of your buried infrastructure so you know where you can and can’t safely break ground.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Who installs EV charging stations?
Anyone who has met the U.S. Department of Energy’s requirements procurement process requirements knows that there are many contractors who claim they install EV chargers, but as with any infrastructure project, hiring a certified electrical contractor, general contractor, and a private and public utility locating & mapping contractor with proven track records with EV charging installation is important.
How much does it cost to install an EV charging station? (public and private)
The base cost of a commercial EV charging station is between $1,000 and $2,500 according to information from the EV Charging Summit. However, that is merely the cost of the unit itself, and those costs change dramatically when looking at home installations.
A Level 1 private (home) EV charger will cost between $300 and $1,000, not including cost to install. A Level 2 home charger, on the other hand, will cost from $700 - $1,800, again not including installation, and commercial public units can cost $12,000 or more for commercial installation.
To help keep costs low, doing your due diligence with complete subsurface facility mapping prior to any excavation is crucial. Accurate utility locating and concrete scanning can mitigate the risk of damages caused by utility strikes and prevent accidents.
