Charging Forward: Advancing Equitable Access to EV Charging
Summary
In 2024, Climate Mayors committed to electrifying at least 50 percent of its member cities’ municipal fleets by 2030, double public-charging stations by 2035, and ensure that at least 40 percent of these electric vehicle charging infrastructure investments benefit disadvantaged communities. In addition, Climate Mayors seeks to advance equitable and efficient electric vehicle adoption and charging broadly, support the electric mobility investment in public transit, connect mayors with available funding sources, and provide communication toolkits to elevate success stories and build public support for transportation electrification. Through the EV Purchasing Collaborative, as well as by partnering with federal agencies and original equipment manufacturers, Climate Mayors will ensure members can access the unprecedented $100 billion in federal support for EVs in the Inflation Reduction Act and Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and will leverage the collective buying power of Climate Mayors across the country to accelerate the conversion of municipal fleets to electric.
Approach
Climate Mayors commits to electrifying at least 50% of its member cities’ municipal fleets by 2030 (~82,500 EVs) , provide EV infrastructure to respond to the increased demand of 30 million EVs on the road (an estimated 5 to 10 fold increase [~450,000 EV chargers] in public-charging stations by 2035) , and ensuring that at least 40% of these electric vehicle charging infrastructure investments benefits disadvantaged communities (~180,000) . In addition, Climate Mayors seeks to advance equitable and efficient EV adoption and charging broadly, support the electric mobility investment broadly (including shared EVs, and micro mobility as well as public transit) , connect mayors with available state and federal funding sources, and provide communication toolkits and elevating success stories to build political will and public support for transportation electrification.
Climate Mayors was founded in 2014, announced 10 years ago at CGI’s Annual Meeting, and is a bipartisan, peer-to-peer network that has mobilized more than 750 U.S. mayors who demonstrate climate leadership through meaningful actions in their communities. Representing 48 states and nearly 60 million Americans, the Climate Mayors coalition reflects U.S. cities’ commitment to climate progress. The Climate Mayors will align and support the Biden-Harris Administration’s EV goal and send a powerful market signal of local EV demand.
Through the EV Purchasing Collaborative, as well as by partnering with federal agencies and original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) , Climate Mayors will ensure members can access the unprecedented $100 billion in federal support for EVs in the Inflation Reduction Act and Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to implement the commitment. The Collaborative leverages the collective buying power of Climate Mayors across the country accelerating the conversion of municipal fleets to electric, providing hands-on assistance for planning, purchasing, and procuring EVs and charging infrastructure. It is a turnkey, one stop online procurement portal providing cities equal access to competitively bid electric vehicles and accompanying charging infrastructure, innovative financing options, and access to policy guidance and expert resources
Action Plan
Year 1: Benchmark EV municipal purchases and EV public charging in all member cities. Expand the existing EV Purchasing Collaborative from 170 of our 350 members to all members (with current commitment) . Collect and share a list of technical assistance providers and other public and private implementation partners. This includes coordinating with technical and subject matter experts to provide ongoing factual information and communication resources for mayors related to EV myths, EV safety educational resources, and updated EV and EV charging information to communicate the state of EVs in their city. Baselining actual numbers to reach 50% municipal fleets and 5-10 fold increase of EV infrastructure in cities will give our commitment necessary baselines to track our goals.
Year 1 – Year 6: Measure changes in transportation emissions in all member cities on an annual basis through the Climate Mayors/Crosswalk Greenhouse Gas Emissions Data Portal. Overtime, the data portal will provide visual and other storytelling elements for Mayors to use to report our progress on transportation emissions, EV purchasing, and EV infrastructure goals. Develop ongoing partnerships with EV workforce initiative through NLC/NGA to foster apprenticeship and workforce development goals to support municipal implementation of EV purchasing and EV charging infrastructure deployment.
Year 2 – Year 6: Host Virtual Briefings and ongoing workshops to provide technical assistance, grant opportunities, communication and media trainings, and other resources for EV purchasing and EV charging infrastructure investment. Resources include the Charging and Fueling Infrastructure Grant, NEVI formula funding, EV commercial tax credits and EV charging tax credits, Community Benefit Plans, EV Equity Infrastructure Tool, etc.
Host Public-private convenings with OEMs to foster acceleration of EV and EV charging purchases by municipalities.The convenings will be ongoing based on initial conversations for our private industry can engage with municipalities.
Background
Transportation emissions account for 29% of the U.S. greenhouse gas emissions and often accounts for an even higher percentage of total emissions in cities. In many cities, transportation emissions and resulting pollution have an even greater and disproportionate impact on disadvantaged and vulnerable communities. This makes decarbonizing the transportation sector critical for meeting our national and international climate goals, as well as ensuring that climate solutions reduce inequalities and improve air quality for all .
At the federal level, in 2023, President Biden announced an ambition to install a network of 1.2 million public chargers by 2030 to keep up with the rapidly growing demand for EVs. Additionally, federal funding from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the Inflation Reduction Act is providing communities the necessary access to resources and funding to implement EV charging infrastructure. .
In addition to this historic funding, President Biden also made historic commitments to use every lever at his disposal to advance environmental justice and spur economic opportunities for disadvantaged communities. Within his first weeks in office, he established the Justice40 Initiative, which promises to deliver at least 40 percent of the overall benefits from Federal investments in climate and clean energy to disadvantaged communities.
Cities play an important role in the transportation decarbonization effort and translating these federal efforts at the local level. Decarbonizing the transportation sector for cities will mean electrifying fleets, investing in public electric vehicle infrastructure for residents, and ensuring these chargers are deployed equitably across cities. Additionally, cities can be an important part of the solution to combat dis- and misinformation EV myths, lower barriers to entry to EVs and EV charging, and access federal incentives and drive home the connection between lower transportation emissions and increasing cleaner air for all residents.
Ensuring cities are also supported in these decarbonization efforts will make the difference of successfully deploying EV infrastructure that benefit Justice 40 communities. Additionally, private and public partners at the State and Federal level play critical roles in ensuring cities can access EVs and EV infrastructure technology, maintenance, and financing to accelerate zero emissions vehicle adoption across the US.
Progress Update
Partnership Opportunities
We are also seeking additional funding to provide support for implementation of this commitment, including: building out the resources available through the EV pooled purchasing collaborative; advancing business and implementation partnerships with OEMs; and supporting a robust media campaign to combat negative EV stories., To support this commitment, Climate Mayors will: collect and offer best practices for cities to implement EV purchasing and EV charging; connect municipalities to federal funding (IRA/BIL) and other financial resources; connect municipalities to key implementation partners; provide media visibility for mayors committed to decarbonizing transportation; and provide connections to topical experts across the transportation decarbonization space.