- The Californian city of San Francisco has secured a $5 million loan from the California Energy Commission, enabling the installation of further EV charging infrastructure across the city, to support the adoption of more EVs within its own light-duty city fleet.
- The $5 million grant, which has been matched with $2.8 million in capital directly from the city, will fund the installation of 403 new EV charging ports, which will be located in city-owned facilities and be used to power its ‘non-public safety light-duty fleet’.
- Despite the repealment of many pro-EV policies at a federal level, states such as California continue to push forward with electrification plans.
San Francisco enables fleet electrification with upcoming charging infrastructure
403 EV charging points are set to be created with the new funding, spanning 36 different city-owned facilities across San Francisco. The new infrastructure will help support the recharging of approximately 800 light-duty electric vehicles, equating to roughly 40% of San Francisco’s non-public safety light-duty fleet. Currently, just 8% of the vehicles within this category are zero-emission, but this move will help the city to continue its electric fleet transition.
City Administrator, Carmen Chu, commented:
“San Francisco has led the way tackling climate change, from sea level rise planning to green building standards to setting ambitious goals for a zero-emission fleet. Unfortunately, until now, we haven’t had the infrastructure needed to charge electric cars at scale.
With this grant and our fleet assessment, we now have the knowledge and ability to install over 400 chargers across the city to power city vehicles. We estimate this will meet 40% of charging needs for the city’s common fleet and is a win-win because it’s good for the environment and lowers ongoing operating costs. I thank my team at fleet management for their foresight and their leadership in planning for and securing this grant, as well as our partners at the SF Environment Department for their work with us on the proposal.”
Mayor of San Francisco, Daniel Lurie, added:
“We all need to do our part to support the environment – and the city is leading the way. This grant will allow us to increase the share of zero-emission city vehicles from 8% to nearly half of our fleet—that’s real momentum. Whether you drive, walk, bike, or take the bus, our city is moving toward cleaner transportation.”
