An EV Capable parking space has the electrical capacity and a raceway (conduit) reserved to serve a future charger, but no wiring, outlet or charging equipment yet. It is the first and least expensive of the three tiers used in building codes and EV ordinances.
The point of EV Capable is to avoid the costly part of adding chargers later: opening walls and slabs, trenching, and upgrading panels and transformers. Codes such as CALGreen in California and the model energy codes define EV Capable spaces and set how many a new building must provide, often alongside a share of EV Ready and EVSE Installed spaces.
EV Capable, EV Ready and EVSE Installed compared
- EV Capable. Electrical capacity and a raceway or conduit path reserved for a future circuit. No wire, no outlet. Cheapest now; most work later.
- EV Ready. A complete branch circuit ending in a receptacle or junction box near the space. A driver or owner can add a charger with little more than mounting it.
- EVSE Installed. Charging equipment is in place and working on opening day.
What to check in an EV Capable design
- Panel and transformer capacity actually reserved for the future load, not just space in the electrical room.
- Conduit sized and routed to the spaces, with the ends accessible and labeled.
- Whether managed charging or an automated load management system is allowed to reduce the capacity that must be reserved.
The Parkonomics view
The tiers are a way of buying the future in installments. Capacity and conduit are cheap during construction and expensive afterward; the charger itself is the part that gets cheaper and better every year.
Related terms: EV Ready, EVSE Installed, Make-Ready Infrastructure, Reach Code, Future-Flexible Design