Regional Plug-In Electric Vehicle Planning – Southern California

This effort was announced in December 2009 and is a nice example of the start of a regional effort to do some comprehensive planning to facilitate the smooth transition to electric vehicles. The initiative is a collaboration between cities, utilities, automakers and others in the Southern California region who will work actively to support and build the necessary infrastructure for the commercial launch of electric vehicles.

The collaborative includes: Southern California Edison, Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, Southern California Public Power Authority, California Electric Transportation Coalition, Electric Power Research Institute, South Coast AQMD, Nissan, GM, Ford, and the cities of Burbank, Los Angeles, Pasadena, Santa Ana, and Santa Monica.

The Planning process has the following eight objectives:

  1. Collaborate to help educate customers and stakeholders highlighting the environmental benefits of electric transportation; the benefits of electricity as an alternative fuel; the creation of public-access charging infrastructure; and the steps customers need to take to get plug-in ready.
  2. Collaborate and share information to prepare the LA Region for adoption of PEVs as a major market for the automotive industry; apply for or administer grant funding for the Region, and implement best practices to support the deployment and use of PEVs.
  3. Collaborate on charging infrastructure deployment including: working with funding agencies to upgrade the existing charging infrastructure, adding new infrastructure locations, and identifying charging solutions for multi-unit dwelling and workplace charging situations.
  4. Cities will work with stakeholders to develop and/or support purchase and ownership incentives (monetary/non-monetary) for both vehicles and infrastructure, including tax rebates for vehicles and charging installations, preferential and/or free parking at city meters, key parking locations, and community venues.
  5. Cities will work to streamline the process for installation of new charging infrastructure including local city permitting and inspections.
  6. Cities will review and revise where appropriate, local city building codes, standards, ordinances, etc. to help encourage adoption of PEVs.
  7. Utilities will develop a robust and streamlined customer service process that can scale up to support large numbers of plug-in vehicle customer service requests ranging from charging infrastructure installations to utility-specific rate options and programs.
  8. Cities and Utilities will collaborate on fleet acquisition plans, helping drive deployment of electric transportation solutions in light, medium and heavy-duty applications in accordance with operational and emergency response needs.

The Mayor of Los Angeles announced that by the Fall of 2010, a number of incentives would be offered including:

  • Home Charger Early Adapter Incentive Program to subsidize the installation up to $2,000 for the first 5,000 residential customers.
  • Off-peak electrical charging rate of 8.5 cents per kWh (6pm to 2am).
  • City and State incentives including, but not limited to, preferred and/or free parking, high occupancy lanes.
  • Upgrading the 400 existing public charging sites within one year of the adoption of a new federally-approved charging standard.
  • Implementing a streamlined process for the installation of home charging units in the City of Los Angeles.

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