Planning for Electric Vehicles (EVs)? Here is what you need to know

Perhaps you are aware of Governor Whitmer announcement of the State of Michigan’s carbon neutrality plans. Or maybe you are familiar with the Biden administration’s intentions for a transformative era in the automotive industry. Maybe you caught this Super Bowl commercial ad targeting Norway. Regardless, a huge topic in transportation right now is the shift from Internal Combustion Engine vehicles to Electric Vehicles (EVs). Among other adjustments, this shift is bringing a huge increase in demand for EV charging infrastructure.

In late January, SEMCOG hosted its first webinar on the topic of Electric Vehicles, where the speakers provided a high-level overview of the existing policies, available funding programs, and planning tools at the state level. We also heard Michigan utility providers share their perspective on emerging EVs and their impact on the utility grid. I encourage you to watch the replay, and I am going to highlight some key takeaways on what your community needs to know when it comes to planning for EVs.

Policy

“The next ten years is going to be a landmark decade in mobility,” said Michigan Chief Mobility officer Trevor Pawl. He added, “By 2030, Electric Vehicles are expected to pass internal combustion engine vehicle sales, software will represent more than fifty percent of the value of the vehicles, and these are among the main reasons why Governor Whitmer created the Office of Future Mobility and Electrification (OFME) in the summer of 2020. The idea for this new State office is to ensure that Michigan leads the world when it comes to future of the Transportation.”

The Vision for the OFME is defined as “a stronger state economy achievable through safer, more equitable and environmentally-conscious transportation for all Michigan residents”. With “accelerating EV adoption in the state” as one of the OFME core objectives, it translates into supporting electrification transportation as well as expanding state’s charging infrastructure to connect to other states and national network, Pawl specified.

He also pointed out the state’s integrated approach, where strong talent attracts growing companies; companies fill innovation pipelines, then those new technologies need infrastructure to be tested and deployed, which forces public sector to develop infrastructure. As the infrastructure takes hold, new training is needed, and new jobs are created. Thusly, the smart infrastructure and talent reinforce each other as well as Michigan’s advantage.

State Approach to drive sustained industry development

Funding Opportunities

A key question for decision-makers is, What comes first? Does EV infrastructure need to be in place for EV adoption to follow? Or should EV adoption become ubiquitous, leaving the new infrastructure for later? “The state energy office decided to focus on building the charging infrastructure first,” said EGLE Energy Program Specialist Julie Staveland.

To support that approach, EGLE funded an MSU study to identify optimal locations for EV chargers with the intention of creating a worry-free EV charging infrastructure for light-duty vehicles throughout the state. The study has been conducted at two phases – Phase I: or the Highway Corridors & Tourism study, and Phase II: the Urban Study.

EGLE also highlighted additional funding opportunities, including the Charge UP MI Fleet, an upcoming funding opportunity for municipalities transitioning their municipal fleet to EV, as well as the Fuel Transformation Program (FTP), a 3-year Volkswagen Settlement (VW) grant program that covers a variety of vehicle types. This program is currently in Round 1, and is accepting project proposals through April 22, 2021.To build out this infrastructure, the state developed the Charge Up Michigan Funding Program, in which a third of funding comes from the state, a third from utility, and a third from site host. To initiate the process, a site host enrolls in a utility EV charging program, then applies to Charge Up program. Once awarded, the EV charger gets installed, and it goes through a reimbursement process. The funding is available until either the network is built out or the funding is exhausted.

Michigan DCFC Infrastructure Network

As far as other funding opportunities in Michigan, DTE EV programs were highlighted by the DTE representative. In particular, the $13M Charging Forward program, where DTE offers rebates that fully or partially fund EV Supply Infrastructure and Charging Stations for business and commercial electric customers, as well as residential.

In addition to what has been covered in the SEMCOG EV Webinar regarding funding opportunities, I would like to point out the Consumers Energy EV programs and services, explicitly the PowerMIDrive™, a program to increase EV charging capability at residential level. This program also supports deployment of public charging stations.

Planning Tools and Zoning Database

When it comes to planning for the number of needed EV chargers in a community, planners can benefit from technical assistance. Maggie Striz Calnin, Michigan Clean cities Coalition, shared an EV planning tool from the Department of Energy Alternative Fuel Data Center tool collection. The Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Projection Tool (EVI-Pro) Lite provides a way to estimate how much electric vehicle charging a community might need and how it affects the charging load profile. This planning tool also includes information on cost associated with deploying charging stations, projections for plug-in EV growth, and more.

On the topic of zoning ordinances for EV infrastructure, and as part of an EGLE grant, the University of Michigan created a free database of zoning ordinances. This is a great resource for accessing and reviewing ordinances related to EVs, as well as renewable energies throughout Michigan.

What is Next?

As far as the next steps for SEMCOG, our EV team is working on developing an EV Hub for Southeast Michigan, a one-stop-shop destination for communities who are planning for EVs and EV infrastructure. This SEMCOG EV Hub will include information related to EVs and EV infrastructure, data, and maps of existing charging infrastructure, as well as links to available funding opportunities, zoning ordinances, and best practices.

Considering the momentum we are seeing in the efforts toward electrification at federal and state levels, as well as in the private sector, I have a feeling there might have been further announcements on policies, funding opportunities, and programs just during the time I spent writing this blog. I encourage you to stay tuned for the future SEMCOG blogs and EV resources.