One example of this momentum is the Oregon Community Charging Rebate program — administered by the Oregon Department of Transportation — aimed at locating charging in “priority communities,” which include rural and disadvantaged areas.
“The intention is to give these communities a head start for the next EV wave,” said JR Anderson, program manager at Forth Mobility, an Oregon-based EV policy and advocacy group.
The community charging rebate program wants to place charging in areas like shopping districts where drivers can charge while dining, shopping or other tasks.
Applicants are reimbursed $4,250 to $5,500, or up to 75 percent of eligible costs. The program is set to open in June with $1.75 million available for the first round of funding, with 30 percent set aside for non-priority communities, and 70 percent for priority communities.
“The goal is to place chargers in public areas where people spent time visiting while their cars are charging,” said Anderson, speaking on an April panel hosted by Forth.
Multifamily housing locations are also eligible, with applicants receiving up to $5,500 per charging port when a Level 2 charger is installed. Level 1 chargers can be reimbursed up to $750 per charging port.
CALSTART, a national clean transportation nonprofit, working with more than 350 organizations to accelerate the development and deployment of clean and equitable transportation, is leading the Charge at Work campaign, funded by the U.S. Department of Energy.
“Through this program, we want to transform workplace charging from an employee benefit, or an amenity, to the norm,” said Ben Mandel, vice president of strategic initiatives at CALSTART, which is headquartered in Pasadena, Calif.
The program aims to have 100,000 workplace charging ports installed across the country.
“There’s no denying that EVs are on the rise,” said Mandel, noting EV registrations in the United States rose 60 percent in the first quarter of 2022, even as the U.S. car market was in decline. In recent months as much as 7 percent of new car registrations nationally have been electric.
“But we still have a lot of ground to make up, in light of commitments by several states to achieve 100 percent zero-emission car sales by 2035,” he added, in some of his comments on the panel. “The fact of the matter is, we’re still in the infancy of this transition. Really, still in the early adopter stage.”
EVs may still be an emerging phenomenon across much of the country, but are quickly becoming mainstream in California. EVs now make up more than 21 percent of the new-car market in the Golden State, according to Veloz, an EV industry advocacy and policy group based in Sacramento. More than 1.5 million EVs are on California roadways, marking a major benchmark two years earlier than expected.
“In order for EVs to be seen as broadly viable, beyond early adopters, an abundance of charging stations in three contexts is critical,” said Mandel, stressing a need for charging where people live, work and play.
Multifamily housing residents, which make up about 30 percent of the national housing market, will need to be reached via a “more holistic combination of additional charging approaches,” he added.
“Adding charging to the workplace has already become an increasingly critical element in the car-fueling ecosystem of the future,” said Mandel.
Daytime charging at workplaces is seen as a mechanism for sopping up excess solar energy, helping to better manage the electric grid.
“As we move to mass-market EV adoption, and shift to an increasingly renewable power electricity grid, daytime charging, at work, will be the more efficient pathway,” said Mandel.
