California Air Resources Board

Principal Investigators/Authors: Samuel Markolf and Ricardo Pinto de Castro

Contractor: University of California, Merced

Contract Number: 22STC012

Project Status: Active

Relevant CARB Programs: Drive Forward Light Duty Vehicle Program

Topic Areas: Local Actions for Climate Change, Local Government Zero-Emission Vehicle Readiness, Sustainable Communities & Climate Protection Program, Accessible Clean Transportation Options SB 350, Sustainable Communities, Research & Sustainable Communities, Sustainable Community Strategies (SCS), Climate Change, Vehicle Miles Traveled (VMT) Reduction & Climate Goals, Clean Cars 4 All

Research Summary:

This project provides tools and resources to help local governments and community members plan for and increase accessibility of ZEVs and charging stations, while helping to reduce the number of miles traveled by passenger vehicles. It also helps communities assess their own needs and goals so that they can choose the best strategies to achieve them. The project includes a literature review, interviews with local government officials, development of a “ZEV readiness” score, and tools and resources to increase ZEV adoption fairly and effectively in California communities, while reducing the miles that vehicles travel. 

Keywords: zero-emission vehicle (ZEV), electric vehicle, ZEV readiness, charging infrastructure, sustainable communities, multi-modal transportation, vehicle miles traveled

Documents: 

• Final Report: this report explores and summarizes the current state of zero-emission vehicle planning, strategies, barriers, and resources across a breadth of sources including county zero-emission vehicle plans, city climate action plans, academic and government literature, community-driven transportation planning, reports, info packets, and toolkits. It also includes resources such as an Electric Vehicle Readiness Plan Template and examples from California jurisdictions. 

• Readiness Tool: This tool aims to help local jurisdictions and communities self-evaluate their readiness for ZEV adoption across six different categories: infrastructure, mobility access, supportive policies, outreach, workforce, and equity. Within each category, users are prompted to evaluate performance across multiple indicators. Users will then be presented with an overall ZEV Readiness “Score”, Summary, and suggestions for where to focus their attention next. This tool can be used for establishing baseline ZEV Readiness, as well as evaluating progress toward ZEV Readiness at regular intervals. 

• Reference Library: This searchable tool provides brief summaries and links to the reports, articles, websites, tools, and resources that were encountered during our project and/or referenced in our summary report. The references are organized across 14 different themes, including ZEV Readiness Plans and Blueprints, Transportation Needs Assessments, Vehicle-Miles-Traveled Reduction Strategies, Funding Resources, Charging Infrastructure and Electric Utilities, Workforce Development, and Community Engagement and Education. Theme 0 relates to general information and the broader context of ZEVs, Themes 1-6 relate directly to our summary report, Themes 7-12 relate to evaluating ZEV Readiness, and Theme 13 relates to miscellaneous resources. Users can search by title, author, or keywords. Entries can also be filtered and sorted by year, title, author, and type.