The Benefits of Working with CARB and CEC

The California Energy Commission (CEC) bills itself as a pioneer in “leading the state to a 100% clean energy future.” It recently celebrated its 45th birthday and will be launching a “Clean Energy Hall of Fame” by announcing on December 10th awards honoring groups that are successfully contributing to a carbon-neutral California.

Similarly, the California Air Resources Board (CARB) is tasked with developing initiatives to combat the damaging effects of smog and air pollution – something our state knows a little bit about – and they’ve been instrumental in promoting cap-and-trade, LCFS credits and ZEV programs.

This is all to say that these are exactly the sort of organizations we’re proud to work with as we deploy EV charging infrastructure across the state, which simultaneously increases clean energy consumption while decreasing greenhouse gases and other air pollutants.

According to the CEC, cumulative lifetime light-duty ZEV sales in the Golden State through Q2 of 2020 have reached nearly three quarters of a million units, with nearly 10% of that occurring in Q1-Q2 of 2020 alone. This clearly shows a growing demand for clean energy vehicles and, in turn, a need for the infrastructure that will support them.

At last count, the state played host to 62,037 EV chargers – 56.5% of which were privately owned, with the remaining 43.5% available to the public. No surprise to us that the counties with the largest number of DC fast chargers are Los Angeles, Orange and Santa Clara, which boast denser urban populations. These counties are, incidentally, the only three out of California’s 58 counties with 400+ DCFC installations, meaning there’s plenty of opportunity for growth across the state.

As we march toward 2035, the reality of Governor Newsom’s executive order requiring all new car sales in California to be ZEVs will (hopefully) motivate counties to action, especially those that have otherwise been slow to adopt clean fuel infrastructure. Nearly a dozen counties don’t have a single DC fast charger and approximately 25% have just 10 or less level 2 chargers – across the whole county!

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We’ve always maintained that the greatest barrier to entry in the EV marketplace is the lack of reliable charging options outside single-family homes. But as we grow, so too does our ability to change these statistics. Our turnkey EV solutions have brought numerous benefits to local municipalities across a number of case studies, including additional tax dollars from increased sales (retail, auto, energy, etc.) and rising property values.

While we continue to build installations in areas with high-density populations, which account for a plurality of EV sales, we also want to focus attention on areas of the state with a dearth of installations in order to incentivize greater EV sales there.

For instance, very little EV infrastructure exists in any California counties north of Sonoma, Napa and Sacramento. Plugging these gaps will facilitate more travel between California and other northwestern states like Oregon and Washington, where we’ve already began upgrading the West Coast Electric Highway. More sites also need to be added between LA and San Francisco, with prominent routes through Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo, Monterey and Santa Cruz counties still lacking.

Bottom line: with assistance from the CEC, whose Clean Transportation Program invests up to $100 million annually in projects across the state, and CARB, whose Zero-Emission Vehicle Program is designed to transition drivers from petroleum to clean energy sources through regulation, we believe EVCS has the tools to help California meet its statewide emissions targets and other EV-related goals over the next decade and a half.

Up-to-date statistics on statewide EV charging infrastructure can be found here: https://tableau.cnra.ca.gov/t/CNRA_CEC/views/DMVDataPortal_15986380698710/ZEVInfrastructure?%3AshowAppBanner=false&%3Adisplay_count=n&%3AshowVizHome=n&%3Aorigin=viz_share_link&%3AisGuestRedirectFromVizportal=y&%3Aembed=y

See what the CEC has to say about the transition to zero-emission mobility here: https://www.energy.ca.gov/programs-and-topics/programs/clean-transportation-program/clean-transportation-funding-areas-0

See what CARB is doing to advance ZEV sales throughout California here: https://ww2.arb.ca.gov/zev-collaboration

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Installation of the Month (March 2021): The Elysian

EVCS continues to put charging stations in the ground at a record-setting pace, further proving that the notion of responsible mobility is gaining momentum with SoCal motorists. We’re incredibly proud of the work we’ve been able to do over the past couple years, which has simultaneously benefitted countless individuals (with cheaper modes of transport), businesses (with new revenue models), and the environment (with cleaner air quality). Moreover, many of our newer sites are residential buildings, making EV ownership more of a practical reality for tens of thousands of Californians who have otherwise been apprehensive about cutting the cord with ICE vehicles.

Installation of the Month (February 2021): Hollywood & Highland

In the movie Spider-man, Uncle Ben tells Peter Parker, “With great power comes great responsibility.” The phrase, which came to be known as the “Peter Parker Principle,” is just as true today as it was 20 years ago when the movie first premiered. And just as Peter took seriously his newfound powers, we take seriously our responsibility to facilitate broader access to vehicle electrification options – quite literally the “great power” here is the electricity that keeps EVs moving. We also understand the power of movies and television to convey the importance of electric mobility, be it through information, entertainment or influence marketing. As such, Hollywood has become a tremendous partner in advancing the EVCS mission.

Installation of the Month (January 2021): Barlow Respiratory Hospital

While 2021 brings hope and promise for greater widespread adoption of electric mobility, a quick glance at our portfolio reminds us of all the headway we’ve already made toward that end. Last year, we seized on positive customer sentiment and abundant fiscal opportunities in the green energy space, allowing us to become one of the top installers of EV charging infrastructure in the State of California (with 500+ installations completed and counting). As such, we thought it might be worthwhile to share some of these installations with you – a new success story each month – so that you can see firsthand the favorable strides we’re making toward a carbon-neutral future.

2020: A Year in Review

Two thousand twenty has been a year of undeniable adversity, but also one of remarkable achievement. A year of firsts and hopefully a few lasts. A time of toil and tribulation, but also of triumph. For genuine success is partly defined by our ability to hurdle those implacable obstacles that make the result so noteworthy in the first place. Now, as the EVCS team looks back on this unusual year, we take stock of our unique achievements that made 2020 one for the books.

Electrification Progress in the Age of COVID

It’s pretty clear that vaccine or no, COVID will be here for a while, and with it the new normal of face masks, social distancing, telecommuting and (consequently) less road travel. While some might view this with trepidation, we see it as an opportunity. Since the earliest weeks of the pandemic, major metro areas like Los Angeles, Seattle and Chicago – those with large reductions in automobile traffic – immediately began seeing improvements in air quality, according to articles in the New York Times and Washington Post. More recent, an NPR story noted ozone pollution has decreased as much as 15% in many of these places. It seems an unintended consequence of the lockdown has been to accelerate the transition to responsible mobility by demonstrating its positive effects on the environment.