EV Roadmap: 3rd Annual Update on Implementation Efforts

07/18/23

In October 2019, the Board of Supervisors (Board) approved the Electric Vehicle Roadmap (EV Roadmap). The EV Roadmap contains six goals and 11 recommendations to encourage electric vehicles (EVs) ownership and use, build more charging stations, and seek out opportunities for financial support through grants.

These efforts help guide the County to increase the amount of public and private EV infrastructure installed and EV adoption among county residents to support our sustainability and climate action planning efforts. EV Roadmap implementation efforts support broader County sustainability and climate action planning efforts in the Climate Action Plan (CAP) Update and Regional Decarbonization Framework by advancing measures and actions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from transportation.

Through 2022, the County has continued progressing EV Roadmap implementation and provided our most recent annual update to the Board on July 6, 2023. Many County departments are involved in EV Roadmap implementation, and support tracking and reporting summarized in the 2022 annual report, including the Department of Parks and Recreation (DPR), Planning and Development Services (PDS), Department of General Services (DGS), Agriculture, Weights, and Measures (AWM), San Diego County Library, Department of Human Resources, Department of Public Works, and Department of Environmental Health and Quality.

As part of this effort, the County regularly updates its publicly accessible EV Roadmap website. This website serves as an online platform where people can see the progress made in implementing the EV Roadmap across the six Goals:

  • Goal 1: Further Reduce the County’s Fleet of Gas-Powered Vehicles
  • Goal 2: Accelerate the Installation of EV Charging Stations at Public Locations in County Facilities and in the Unincorporated County
  • Goal 3: Promote and Incentivize County Employee EV Ownership
  • Goal 4: Incentivize and/or Require EV Charging Infrastructure in New and Existing Private Multi-Family Residential and/or Non-Residential Development
  • Goal 5: Fund EV Expert/Consumer Advocate as a Regional Resource
  • Goal 6: Collaborate with Regional Partners to Support Public and Private Fleet Electrification
EV chargers

These efforts aid in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reductions from the transportation sector, County operations, and vehicle use regionwide.

Highlights from implementation over the past year for these goals include:

  • Installed over 200 EV charging stations at County facilities for fleet vehicles
  • Increased the number of in-use EVs in the County’s fleet to 92 vehicles
  • Installed over 50 publicly accessible EV chargers at County facilities
  • Implemented an employee survey to collect information on current employee EV ownership rates and potential benefits that may incentivize purchasing an EV
  • Completed an Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Planning Analysis to prioritize future installation efforts in areas where public charging is most needed
  • Increased teleworking by County employees and avoided over 36.5 million vehicle miles from employee commuting
  • Simplified the permitting process for EV chargers, following the guidelines of AB 1236
  • Developed County Building Code updates in line with the State Model Code, which includes new rules for EV charging infrastructure in commercial and multi-family developments
  • Updated the EV Consumer Guide to provide information on latest vehicle market availability, available incentives, and rebates through federal and State programs, new technologies, and accessible EVs
  • Participated as a Core Team member in the Accelerate to Zero Emissions regional collaboration and completed the San Diego Regional EV Gap Analysis
  • Received a Caltrans Planning Grant, in partnership with the San Diego Association of Governments (SANDAG), to develop a Zero Emissions Vehicle Incentive Program

The progress made through 2022 contributes to the County's ongoing initiatives to promote more EV ownership and the development of charging infrastructure. Staff will continue to work on implementing programs and projects that build upon this success. Ultimately, these efforts aim to make EVs more available and accessible to everyone in the county, resulting in cleaner vehicles and air and reduced GHG emissions, benefiting all residents.

EV charging

The County will continue implementation of the EV Roadmap through 2023 including the installation of EV chargers at County facilities and public areas, adding EVs to the county fleet, updating the Green Fleet Action Plan, and integrating plans and programs for zero-emission vehicles as GHG reduction measures into the CAP Update. These directives help to create a sustainable and resilient unincorporated county, supporting sustainability initiatives in the region. The CAP Update, more specifically, will establish a vision for addressing climate change in the unincorporated area and will establish actions to reach net-zero GHG emissions by 2035-2045. The Draft CAP Update is expected to be available for public review in Fall/Winter 2023, and the final version will be presented to the Board of Supervisors for approval in 2024.

For more information on EV Roadmap goals, additional details on implementation efforts, and our memo to the Board for the 2022 update, head over to our EV Roadmap webpage.