Is it just a gymic? or are they really on their way? It seems KB is advertising they're ready if you are: http://www.kbhome.com/pdf/press/2580/ElectricVehicle-prewire-option_100309.pdf Now all I need is money for a Tesla . . . or Volt (if/when) . . . or Leaf (if/when) . . . or Aptera (if/when) . . . or I Miev (if/when). .
The Leaf is definite. They're going into full mass production. They'll be building them in the U.S. by 2012. They'll only build 10,000 Chevy Volt cars a year starting late this year, which makes them (like the EV1) unavailable for 'normal' people, and indicates GM's core desire to continue to make big gas hogs, no matter what. The price for all of these cars is a little off-putting, but like any electronic gadget, the early adopters will pay the 'geek tax'. I'll be waiting a couple of years to see how things settle down in the BEV market. The Prius will DEFINITELY tide me over, and get me up the mountains I need to climb, while the battery capacity in the serial hybrids and BEVs grow up to their attainable capacity by having the cost go down enough to put enough battery capacity into them.
They don't look like they build particularly "green" houses, but: Even with a small battery (5 KWH) to charge, a dedicated 120V 20A circuit would be a plus. We've managed to trip the breaker by running a vacuum cleaner while the car (Hymotion conversion) was charging. And, basically, I don't like running a stead 12A or so on a regular 15A circuit. It's just asking for trouble. With a full EV, you're really going to want at least a dryer plug (220V 30A) if you expect to charge the battery in any reasonable amount of time. Retrofitting to give a new electrical circuit can be a real pain. In my case, the electrical service entrance is at the opposite end of the house from the garage. I'd pay a premium to have the garage wired up properly for charging in the first place.
It costs them nothing to list it as a "standard option" and if it sells one house they come out ahead. You could do the same thing with any built to order house, or add it to any existing house, you just need to pay for it.
