Governments are fond of setting numerical milestones for EV adoption, and sometimes those objectives are actually met. A few years ago, as part of the LA Green New Deal, the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) set a goal of deploying 10,000 commercial EV chargers in the city by 2022. According to the latest count, there are 11,045 commercial charging stations (including public, workplace and fleet chargers) in service, so the city has far exceeding its target, almost 21 months ahead of schedule.

“The EV revolution is upon us,” said Mayor Eric Garcetti told local news channel Spectrum News 1. “Anyone who’s driven an EV knows the technology is there.” 

Los Angelenos can charge their EVs at various public and private locations, including street lamps, libraries, workplaces, apartment buildings, the LA Zoo and LA International Airport. The city’s commercial EV charging stations include almost 2,500 publicly accessible stations and almost 8,500 at workplaces, fleet operations and multi-unit apartment buildings.

LADWP was able to speed up the process and hit its target early by establishing a staff dedicated to processing charging station service requests, and leveraging incentives from the California Air Resources Board, as well as offering generous rebates for commercial entities.

As part of its Charge Up LA! program, LADWP offers rebates of up to $5,000 per Level 2 charger if deployed in a disadvantaged community, up to $75,000 per fast charger, and up to $125,000 for a charger capable of fueling a medium- or heavy-duty EV.

Of the 8,157 commercial EV charger rebates LADWP has issued, more than 60% have been for multi-unit apartment buildings. In 2019, 55% of LA households were renters, according to the US Census Bureau.

“As we move toward transportation electrification, the opportunity is to ensure that everybody has access to EVs,” said Matt Petersen, CEO of the Los Angeles Cleantech Incubator. “One of the ways we do that is to make sure charging stations are in every neighborhood, and that’s part of what that goal of 10,000 EV chargers represents: increasing access and ensuring that chargers are available everywhere, not just the West Side of LA.”

“Our next target is 25,000 chargers by 2025 and 28,000 by 2028, and we’re on track to hit that,” said LADWP spokesperson Reiko Kerr.

Source: Spectrum News 1