How do you motivate people to start driving electric cars? According to English lawmakers, one way could be to install electric chargers in all new homes. New draft legislation has just been released in the UK that would require every new home to include a built-in electric car charging port. If enacted, the law would make the U.K. the first place in the world to require chargers for all new homes with dedicated parking spaces.
The draft law is part of a move to make electric vehicles more accessible while furthering the U.K.’s goal to be carbon-neutral by 2050. In addition to home charging, the Department for Transport also announced plans to make public charging stations more accessible as well. For instance, drivers would no longer need to subscribe to each of the individual companies that offer public chargers — they’ll be able to make one-off payments just like one would at a gas station by spring 2020.
But Transport Secretary Chris Grayling seems to think that the push for in-home charging will be more beneficial to people in the long run—at the moment, UK residents who want to install a home charger have access to 500-pound ($626) grants from the government but otherwise have to cover the cost themselves.