California Energy Commission approves up to $200M for charging installations in support of an estimated 1.5 million EVs in state by 2025
The California Energy Commission has awarded CSE a $15 million grant to develop and implement an initiative to install more electric vehicle charging stations statewide by creating financial incentive projects. The decision further approves up to $200 million for the installations in conjunction with matching funds from regional and local governments.
“This really changes the landscape of electric vehicle charging in California,” said Colin Santulli, CSE director of Clean Transportation. “In addition to developing a variety of incentive projects, we will launch comprehensive marketing and education efforts to help make the public and target audiences aware of the incentives as they become available.”
More than 216,000 plug-in electric vehicles (PEVs) are currently on the road in California, supported by some 3,600 public charging stations. The state’s goal is to have adequate charging infrastructure to support up to 1 million vehicles by 2020 and 1.5 million vehicles by 2025.
Increased charging needs
Santulli noted that while many PEV owners charge their vehicles primarily at home, there is increasing need for workplace and public charging to accommodate the anticipated rise in electric vehicle use.
According to Santulli, the current availability of PEV charging in many areas of the state is insufficient to support future needs despite various publicly and privately funded efforts. With this grant, CSE will research and analyze a variety of incentive project options based on the expected demand for specific types of chargers and their locations as well as to meet various state policy objectives like increased charging infrastructure in disadvantaged communities.
Once the projects are selected with guidance from the Energy Commission, CSE will manage the individual projects and process and distribute incentives. The installations must employ commercially available charging equipment and be in existing or otherwise funded parking areas.
The Energy Commission made the award as part of its Alternative and Renewable Fuel and Vehicle Technology Program that supports sustainable transportation and is designed to help attain the state’s climate change policies and greenhouse gas reduction goals.
Part of CSE’s award is to develop user-friendly project websites that will help advertise the availability and requirements of incentive funding as well as provide up-to-date information on disbursements through real-time interactive dashboards.
