Guiding Principles for Utility Programs to Accelerate Transportation Electrification

The early electric vehicle (EV) market has been strong, and it is poised to expand rapidly, with second-generation vehicles, like the Chevrolet Bolt and Tesla Model 3, in production, offering longer ranges at more affordable price points. However, unless a growing charging infrastructure gap is closed, the market could stall. Likewise, many consumers are simply unaware of the many EV models that could meet their needs. Electric utilities are uniquely situated to help overcome these barriers and meaningfully accelerate the adoption of light-, medium-, and heavy-duty EVs.  

With the right policies and programs, utilities can provide widespread benefits to all customers by improving the operation of the electric grid, reducing exposure to dangerous air pollution, and fighting climate change by electrifying America’s cars, trucks, buses, forklifts, cranes, trains, etc. To fully realize environmental, grid, and customer benefits, we present a non-exhaustive set of guiding principles to help frame utility proposals to accelerate the electrification of the transportation sector, the largest source of emissions in the country.