What New $1.4B CEC Funding Means to California

If you’re a Californian, this Thanksgiving season brought a lot to be thankful for, notwithstanding both the Rams and Chargers getting shellacked on the road nor the average 24% price increase of frozen turkeys. No, rather we’re referring to the three-year $1.4 billion funding initiative that was quietly approved by the California Energy Commission the week before the feast-filled holiday kicked off. The goal? Close the Golden State’s 2025 infrastructure funding gap and speed up the push toward Governor Newsom’s plan for a zero-emission “autopia.”

According to California’s Lead Commissioner for Transportation, Patty Monahan, the money is meant to ensure “access to charging… isn’t a barrier to those exploring cleaner transportation options including individuals, businesses and public agencies.” Almost 80% of the funding – some $1.08 billion – is allocated to electric charging and hydrogen fueling stations, and will be doled out to organizations like EVCS based on grants, solicitations, and direct funding agreements.

Our enthusiasm for the deal is largely due to the overlap between our mission and the initiative’s goals, namely the following:

1) Number of EV Chargers to Skyrocket

EVCS has long focused on reducing consumer concerns about range anxiety and infrastructure accessibility by expanding the number of publicly available chargers. Our strategy has been to install stations at key points of interest like freeway exits and on-ramps, shopping centers, parking structures, municipal buildings, offices and other commercial sites. These are the same types of sites where the CEC is looking for growth. With this additional funding, they estimate an additional 15,154 new chargers will go in the ground, an increase of 17% from the current 73,000 chargers the state has now.

2) A Focus on Fleets

Through 2021, California’s EV market share has been dominated by personal and light-duty vehicles, with medium- and heavy-duty vehicles historically slower to transition from traditional combustion engines. EVCS has been consistent in its position that without meaningful adoption by large-scale fleet operators, carbon neutral is unachievable, leading us to target educational, industrial, municipal and large-scale commercial institutions with infrastructure proposals. Thankfully, this new funding prioritizes fleet infrastructure like zero-emission school buses, transit buses and drayage trucks along with the chargers needed to power them.

3) Air Quality Improvement

“A mission to reduce emissions” has been the hallmark of EVCS since our founding, with the goal to create cleaner air and a more sustainable environment for the generations that will follow us. While major West Coast cities like Los Angeles and San Francisco have improved air quality over the last 30 years, they still remain some of the most polluted places in the nation. However, the new funding prioritizes the reduction of harmful airborne contaminants in frontline communities by focusing the greatest resources in those areas most affected, a strategy that coincides with our own efforts.

4) Low Income Neighborhoods to See Growth

Mass EV adoption is unlikely if only the wealthiest among us can afford to make the transition. Low- and middle-income earners need to feel as though going green will save them green, no matter how much they may believe in sustainability. Most choices start with the pocketbook. Charging installations must be ubiquitous and the electricity affordable. EVCS has made the development of disadvantaged communities a key part of our business model since our inception, so clearly, we were thrilled to see that no less than 51% of the CEC’s funds are allocated to servicing such areas.

Courtesy of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory

Our hope is that we can ultimately help the CEC lead the way in demonstrating what’s possible in the world of zero-emission transportation and that with any luck, it won’t be too many more Thanksgivings from now that we’ll be saying how grateful we are for a world where clean energy mobility is the norm instead of the ideal.

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A Barrage of New EV Models Requires More Infrastructure

According to a recent article in Forbes, Americans will purchase approximately two million EVs in 2022. Dr. Shelley Francis, co-founder, and director of EVHybridNoire notes that demand is increasing “as public perception of the technology shifts from novelty to mainstream,” thanks primarily to the plethora of new EV models hitting the market and a rapid expansion of infrastructure spearheaded by fast-charging network operators like EVCS.

2021: A YEAR IN REVIEW

Two thousand twenty-one saw a plethora of advancements in the electric mobility space, from a record number of charging installations to innovative new EV models hitting the market to progressive climate legislation that is spurring the sea change away from pollutant-emitting ICEs. Amidst all this, the EVCS team once again looks back at the last 12 months to take stock of our own unique achievements in advancing the goal of a cleaner future.

New EV Tax Incentives Will Drive Infrastructure Growth

Rarely has the progress of a fledgling new industry been so predicated upon passage of legislation as was the clean energy transportation sector with the $1.2 trillion once-in-a-lifetime infrastructure bill that Joe Biden signed into law on Monday. In addition to money for roads, bridges, ports, public transit – you know, all the usual stuff – the Build Back Better bill provides bold new incentives for drivers to go electric, including a $7,500 tax credit for EV buyers through 2026. Cars costing $50,000 or less and trucks, vans and SUVs costing $80,000 or less will qualify.

Installations of the Month (November 2021): LADOT Lots 628 & 639

Los Angeles continues to be the epicenter for America’s green transportation “EV-olution,” and EVCS continues to lead the charge there, having installed over half the city’s publicly accessible non-Tesla charging stations for two years running. According to industry group Veloz, nearly one in 10 new vehicle sales in California are plug-in vehicles – which accounts for 45% of all plug-in vehicle sales nationwide – and that trend is only growing. In our research, many Angelenos cite the increased prevalence of DCFCs as a key reason why owning an EV has become practical, reducing their range anxiety and offering lightning-fast charging options while they shop, eat and play. This further reinforces the idea that greater access to modern charging infrastructure leads to more EVs on the road, especially in underserved areas that are sorely in need of outside economic investment to spur growth.