The Utahns driving EVs are not only saving money by not buying gasoline, they’re helping to improve air quality and address climate change for all of us. We want to help more Utahns make the switch, so Utah Clean Energy and Salt Lake City have teamed up to create the The Electrified Transportation Roadmap. The roadmap is a tool for local governments to encourage EV adoption.
See below for a great writeup from Salt Lake City Green on the The Electrified Transportation Roadmap, and the potential we have in Utah to be an EV trailblazer!
Check out our Roadmap for Electrified Transportation!
Pop-out doors, instant acceleration, electric bikes, autonomous electric ride-share programs. . . the future is exciting when it comes to electrified transportation. And, in many cases, the future is here. So local governments better get ready! That’s why we’re excited to introduce you to a new report SLCgreen recently co-produced with Utah Clean Energy.
The Electrified Transportation Roadmap describes 25 steps that local governments can take to accelerate the electric transportation revolution. The Roadmap outlines how local governments can implement a variety of electric powered modes of transit including electric vehicles (EVs), e-bikes, electric transit, and electrified ridesharing.
Salt Lake City has integrated a number of these best practices into our internal operations, and we’re now working toward more community-scale projects as part of our Climate Positive SLC plan. As the capital city’s sustainability department, we also believe it’s important to share what we’ve learned with other local governments.
That’s the idea behind the Roadmap—as well as a workshop we organized March 14 with representatives from 16 local governments across the Wasatch Front to talk about best practices and to view EV options from a variety of local dealers. Attendees from 16 local governments listened to best practices in promoting electric transportation, March 14, 2018.
You might be wondering, why so much focus on electrified transportation?
Because “electrifying everything” is a key component of plans to reduce greenhouse gas emissions! This is an important part of Salt Lake City’s Climate Positive plan. If we electrify transportation, we can control what types of (clean) energy makes that electricity. Salt Lake City’s goal is to power our entire community with 100% clean electricity by 2032. Every year more and more renewables are coming on to the grid. We want to see as many cars, bikes, trains, and other vehicles running off that power as possible.
From an air quality perspective, electric vehicles also produce virtually no localized air pollution—so promoting EVs is a huge component of local governments’ efforts to clear the air.
The good news is that, according to a recent Bloomberg report, EVs are on track to accelerate to 54% of new car sales by 2040. The demand for EVs is increasing as technology improves. Range is going up, price is going down, and manufacturers are adding more capabilities that are attracting consumers. What’s more, Utah was recently recognized as the #1 state for the growth rate of new EV drivers!
Still, EV adoption is in a critical phase.
In Utah, there are currently roughly 4,400 EVs and plug-in hybrid vehicles registered in the state, which is about 0.4% of the total passenger vehicles in Utah.That’s where local governments, working with non-profit, utility, and business partners, can play a role.
The next wave of EV adopters needs assurance that their vehicles will have the supporting infrastructure to refuel in a timely manner.
Local governments can build and maintain charging stations to alleviate “range anxiety,” as well as offering priority or free parking—like SLC’s Green Sticker program. They can work to integrate EV-ready infrastructure into new construction, particularly multi-family developments. Incentives to help cover the cost of business and multifamily EV chargers as well as public “fast chargers” are available today.
Governments can work with non-profits like Utah Clean Energy to offer bulk-purchase discount programs, ride and drives, and other programming. Public outreach is a big component of what’s needed and the Roadmap provides recommendations for outreach strategies, as well as key messages.
For example, electric vehicle ranges now often exceed 100, or even 200, miles per charge. As the average American drives just under 40 miles/day, electric vehicles provide more than enough range for most personal use.
Another significant way that municipalities can take the lead on electrifying transportation is by integrating EVs into their fleets, as discussed by our partner Utah Clean Cities. Not only does this do the right thing for the environment, it sends a message to residents that electric vehicle technology is reliable.
Finally, moving toward EVs offers significant savings in both fuel and maintenance costs for fleets (crunch the numbers for yourself at FuelEconomy.gov).
Salt Lake City’s fleet has seen successes in recent clean vehicle upgrades and we’ve also installed workplace charging stations for fleet and employee use. These are strategies that other workplaces—whether in the private or public sector—can adopt. Collectively, we can make a significant dent in local air pollution and carbon emissions.
Finally—this is just scratching the surface! There are so many cool things happening with electrified transportation—from electric bike shares and all-electric buses, both in Park City, to electrified ride share and car share opportunities integrated into multi-family developments (both on the horizon in Utah).
Check out the full Electrified Transportation Roadmap to learn more and to see our whole list of “Live Electric” partner organizations helping bring cleaner transportation solutions to Utah!
Local government leaders checked out a range of electric vehicles from nine area dealerships. Yes, we were taken for a ride in the Teslas (and Hondas, Fords, Nissans, Toyotas, BMWs, and Chevys). These EVs are fun and functional!
