EV Charging and the 2025 CalGreen Code

EV charging and the 2025 CalGreen Code will dramatically affect design and project budgets for many projects. The California Energy Commission (CEC) continues to accelerate mandatory electric vehicle charging installations at a time when the rest of the country is pulling back. Be that as it may California’s battery-powered light vehicle (cars, SUVs, and trucks under 10,000 lbs) represent 28% of all vehicles in the state as of the third quarter of 2025. This percentage is expected to continue to grow. Politics aside, the general public are buying EV’s for their many benefits and they need to be able to charge them. 

The CEC has a target that all vehicles sales in the state will be electric by the year 2035. While this does not seem realistic, they will continue to force new construction to provide ever-increasing electric vehicle charging requirements via the California Green Building Standards Code (CalGreen). 

It is important to understand that for all intents and purposes, the CEC has no critical oversight. They are an organization with a sole focus on minimizing the use of fossil fuels. There is no critical oversight from the state government beyond the California Building Standards Commission (CGBSC). However, The CGBSC is a paper tiger with a grand total of fourteen employees. Their role is limited to rubber stamping the CEC recommendations. Once “approved” by the CGBSC, the code amendments go to the legislature which rubber stamps the recommended amendments. 

For the foreseeable future the California Energy Commission will continue to push electric vehicle infrastructure far beyond demand.

 The Changes for 2025

The new code will be applicable to all projects in California submitted for permit starting January 1, 2026. 

Please note that some may be unaware of the CalGreen Code Interim Update in July of 2024. In that update there were a number of changes to the electric vehicle charging requirements to the 2022 original code. We have covered those changes in our previous article which you can read here. This article will only deal with the changes specific to the new 2025 California Green Building Standards Code.

No Changes to the Residential EV Charging Requirements

The good news is there are no changes to the new one and two family dwellings and townhouses requirements. The EV charging requirements remain the same: 

4.106.4.1 For each dwelling unit, install a listed raceway to accommodate a dedicated 208/240-volt branch circuit. The raceway shall not be less than trade size 1 (nominal 1-inch inside diameter). The raceway shall originate at the main service or subpanel and shall terminate into a listed cabinet, box or other enclosure in close proximity to the proposed location of an EV charger. Raceways are required to be continuous at enclosed, inaccessible or concealed areas and spaces. The service panel and/or subpanel shall provide capacity to install a 40-ampere 208/240-volt minimum dedicated branch circuit and space(s) reserved to permit installation of a branch circuit overcurrent protective device.

In addition, the electrical panel must be sized to handle the future charger load and a space shall be reserved for a future circuit breaker. The spare space shall be permanently labeled “EV Capable”.

(Fun fact: There is nothing in the California Electrical Code that would prevent a homeowner for re-purposing this spare circuit after the final building inspection approval. You didn’t hear that from me!)

Multifamily Dwellings EV Charging Changes

According to the 2025 Fact Sheet published by the CEC (Energy Code Ace) the definition of a multifamily dwelling includes three or more dwelling units providing complete, independent living facilities for one or more persons including access and permanent provisions for living, sleeping, eating, cooking, and sanitation.

These include occupancy groups R-2, R-3, and R-4. These groups cover ADU’s on a multifamily property, supervised residential buildings with more than six ambulatory clients and up to 16 total residents, and accessory buildings and structures, and miscellaneous structures not classified in any specific occupancy and on a multifamily property.  

Here are the 2025 Calgreen Code changes to the EV charging requirements for multifamily dwellings.  Essentially EVERY parking space has to be provided with an EV charging receptacle.

4.106.4.2.2 Multifamily dwellings.
1. EV ready parking spaces with receptacles.

a. Multifamily parking facilities with assigned parking. Where dwelling units are provided with assigned parking spaces equal to or greater than the number of dwelling units, at least one low power Level 2 EV charging receptacle shall be provided at an assigned parking space for each dwelling unit.

1. Where the total number of dwelling units exceeds the number of assigned parking spaces, all assigned parking spaces shall be provided with one low power Level 2 EV charging receptacle.

Exception: Areas of parking facilities served by parking lifts, including but not limited to, automated mechanical-access open parking garages as defined in the California Building Code; or parking facilities otherwise incapable of supporting electric vehicle charging.

b. Multifamily parking facilities with unassigned parking. Where dwelling units are provided with unassigned parking spaces equal to or greater than the number of dwelling units, at least one low power Level 2 EV charging receptacle shall be provided at an unassigned parking space for each dwelling unit.

1. Where the total number of dwelling units exceeds the number of unassigned parking spaces, all unassigned parking spaces shall be provided with one low power Level 2 EV charging receptacle.

Exception: Areas of parking facilities served by parking lifts, including but not limited to, automated mechanical-access open parking garages as defined in the California Building Code; or parking facilities otherwise incapable of supporting electric vehicle charging.

c. Multifamily parking facilities with assigned and unassigned parking. Where multifamily buildings are provided with both assigned and unassigned parking spaces equal to or greater than the number of dwelling units, at least one low power Level 2 EV charging receptacle shall be provided for each dwelling unit at either the assigned or unassigned parking space, but not both.

d. Receptacle power source. EV charging receptacles in multifamily parking facilities at assigned parking spaces shall be provided with a dedicated branch circuit connected to the dwelling unit’s electrical panel, unless determined as infeasible by the project builder or designer and subject to concurrence of the local enforcing agency.

Exception: Areas of parking facilities served by parking lifts, including but not limited to, automated mechanical-access open parking garages as defined in the California Building Code; or parking facilities otherwise incapable of supporting electric vehicle charging.

e. Receptacle configurations. 208/240V EV charging receptacles shall comply with one of the following configurations:

1. For 20-ampere receptacles, NEMA 6-20R
2. For 30-ampere receptacles, NEMA 14-30R
3. For 50-ampere receptacles, NEMA 14-50R

2. EV ready parking spaces with EV chargers.

a. Multifamily parking facilities with unassigned or common use parking. In addition to the low power
Level 2 EV charging receptacle requirements of Section 4.106.4.2.2 (1), twenty-five (25) percent of unassigned or common use parking spaces not already provided with low power Level 2 EV charging receptacles, pursuant to Section 4.106.4.2.2 (1), shall be equipped with Level 2 EV chargers and shall be made available for use by all residents or guests.

b. EV charger connectors. EV chargers shall be equipped with J1772 or J3400 connectors.

c. An automatic load management system (ALMS) may be used to reduce the maximum required electrical capacity to each space served by the ALMS. The electrical system and any on-site distribution transformers shall have sufficient capacity to deliver at least 3.3 kW simultaneously to each EV charging station (EVCS) served by the ALMS. The branch circuit shall have a minimum capacity of 40 amperes, and installed EV chargers shall have a capacity of not less than 30 amperes.

Multifamily Dwellings EV Charging Summary

Whether your new project is a three-unit condo, an affordable housing project, ambulatory care facility, or large housing complex, every single parking space must have provisions for electric vehicle charging. In all cases the size of the utility service to the site will at least double. The cost of a larger transformer, conduit, cabling, service board, and site distribution wiring will be significant. The cost of the chargers themselves range from $2500 to $5000 each. The total cost is likely to drive the per unit housing costs up by $10,000 or more. This does not take into account the long term operation and maintenance costs that the property owner or HOA will need to carry.  

In case you missed it, I would direct your attention to code section 4.106.4.2.2.1.(d) above. It requires that the EV receptacles and chargers be powered from the individual dwelling unit’s power panel! This further escalates the installation costs and complexity for these systems. It eliminates the ability to use Automatic Load Management Systems since there is no central power supply. The electrical service and panel size to each dwelling unit must be increased to handle the charger load. On multi-story projects the conduit and wiring installation will present design and cost issues never seen before.

There can be little doubt that the capital costs and long term operational costs of these new CalGreen Code requirements will result in the cancellation of potential new multifamily projects in the state. This is a terrible blow to the increasing demand for affordable housing. This new code is in direct contradiction to Governor Newsom’s Assembly Bill AB130 which was intended to minimize the red tape for affordable housing projects. Clearly the Governor didn’t realize that while he was passing AB130, the CEC was undermining the same projects with massive cost burdens.

For more details on the impact of the new code on affordable housing check out our video, 

Hotels and Motels EV Charging Changes

The 2025 code makes significant changes to the EV charging requirements for hotels and motels under section 4.106.4.2.6. 

4.106.4.2.6.1  Forty percent of all parking spaces must be equipped with Level 2 EV charging receptacles.

4.106.4.2.6.2  Twenty-five percent of all parking spaces must be equipped with Level 2 EV chargers.

A total of 65% of all parking spaces must have provisions for EV charging. If you’re confused about the terminology, you’re not alone. Here are the definitions from the 2025 CalGreen Code:

LOW POWER LEVEL 2 ELECTRIC VEHICLE (EV) CHARGING RECEPTACLE. [BSC-CG, DSA-SS, HCD] A 208/240-volt 20-ampere minimum branch circuit and a receptacle.

(Note that code section 4 does not include the term “Low Power” when it refers to Level 2 charging receptacles. The presumption is that they are the same. And yes, the failure to use consistent terminology can make you want to pull your hair out!)

LEVEL 2 ELECTRIC VEHICLE (EV) CHARGER. [BSC-CG, HCD] A 208/240-volt 30-ampere minimum electric vehicle charger connected to the premises electrical system capable of charging electric vehicles.

ELECTRIC VEHICLE (EV) CHARGER. [BSC-CG, HCD] Off-board charging equipment used to charge an electric vehicle. 

A charging receptacle, in the language of the CalGreen Code, is a “dumb” device that has no monitoring or metering capability. In relies on the vehicle system to charge and monitor the power. The parking facility/owner side of this device would have no ability to monitor the power usage, and therefore it would be a free power source for users. 

An EV charger is a smart device with monitoring and metering capability.

An interesting market cross-over is the Plugzio charger, pictured below. It offers the installation simplicity of a secure receptacle and also provides internet access for monitoring, metering, and billing.

Hotel and Motel EV Charging Summary

For all new hotels and motels, sixty-five percent of the total parking spaces will need to be provided with EV charging. The code does allow the use of an automatic load management system (ALMS) to reduce the electrical infrastructure. However, the cost and operational issues of these systems may make them unattractive for most projects. In addition, the code still requires a 3.3 KW simultaneous power capacity for each connected charger. Note that a 208-volt, 40-amp charger draws a maximum power of 8.3 KW, so there can be up to a 5 KW per charger savings in infrastructure.

Automatic Load Management System (ALMS): A California electric vehicle (EV) automatic load management system (ALMS) is a control system that manages power to multiple EV chargers to prevent overloading a building’s electrical capacity. By dynamically reducing the charging rate for some or all vehicles when electrical demand is high. 

NonResidential EV Charging Changes

The changes to the nonresidential section of the code for 2025 are minimal. They generally clarify language.

The exception is an adjustment to Table 5.106.5.3.1, which defines the number of EV chargers required based on the number of parking spaces. The new table has added two columns, one for “Other Than Office or Retail” and one for “Office or Retail”. There are now slight differences in the requirements between the types of buildings. 

Here is the new table:

 

Summary

Those who have worked with me, or have read information on my website, know that I am always happy to share my knowledge on the CalGreen Code. However, the EV charging requirements have created such a flood of information requests that it is negatively affecting my business. I can no longer accept inquiries on the EV charging requirements of the CalGreen Code. Nor do I wish to act as a consultant on this subject.

If you have questions on this code, I suggest you try calling the California Energy Commission, Building Energy Efficiency Standards, at 800-772-3300. Or you can email them at title24@energy.ca.gov.