Sustainable
San Mateo County
2024 Economy. Equity. Environment.
INDICATORS
REPORT
EQUITABLE
PATHS TO
EV CHARGING
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Ensuring equitable access to EV charging is The guiding principle throughout this essential for creating a sustainable and report is the belief that access to EV inclusive future in San Mateo County. As charging should not be determined by electric vehicle adoption grows, many housing type, income or location. By residents, particularly renters and those in adhering to California's Right-to-Charge multifamily housing, face significant barriers policy and embracing community-driven to charging at home. solutions, San Mateo County can build a network that is robust and accessible to
Sustainable San Mateo County's 2024 everyone.
Indicators Report, "Equitable Paths to EV
Charging," provides an overview of the With targeted investments, collaborative county's EV charging landscape, focusing on efforts and forward-thinking policies, the key indicators and insights from local county can support its environmental and governments. It also offers recommendations transportation goals while ensuring no to help provide the infrastructure necessary community is left behind. to encourage more residents to purchase EVs.
Annual Sales of ZEVs in San Mateo County
Annual Sales - % of Total Sales San Mateo County has made 20,000 30% significant progress in electrifying
26%
24% its light-duty vehicle population,
with over 57,000 ZEVs (zero-
15,000
emission vehicles) on the road in
20%
15% 2023, representing 10% of all
Number of ZEVs 10,000 Percentage of Total Sales registered vehicles. Of these, 80% 11%
were battery EVS.
10%
5,000
San Mateo County saw a steady
increase in ZEV sales between
0 • 0%
2020 2021 2022 2023 2020 and 2023, with nearly a
Source: California Energy Commission. quarter of all new vehicle sales being ZEVs. This trend continues with more than 6,200 battery electric vehicles sold during the first half of 2024.
Ratio of EVs to Charging Stations Atherton 39
Belmont 247
Determining whether the U.S has enough Brisbane 2
public chargers is complex and depends Burlingame 17
on factors like the availability of fast Colma 5
chargers, urban density, the proportion of Daly City 24 residents without home charging access East Palo Alto 42 and workplace charging options. Limited Foster City 61
data on at-home and workplace charging Half Moon Bay 26 usage further complicates the assessment. Hillsborough
Menlo Park 4
As EV adoption grows, the ratio of EVs to Millbrae 34
public charging stations (as shown in Pacifica 295
graph at right) can offer some insight into Portola Valley 107 infrastructure adequacy. EV drivers in cities Redwood City 13 with high ratios (more cars per charger) San Bruno 20
may face longer waits and increased San Carlos 76
competition for public charging stations. San Mateo 14
EV drivers in urban areas with higher South San Francisco 15 densities and higher share of multifamily Woodside 38
buildings would benefit from lower ratios. 100 200 300
Source: Department of Energy and U.S. Census Bureau.
Mapping Public EV Charging Gaps
To identify gaps between the demand for and supply of public EV charging stations, the percentage of renter-occupied and multifamily housing units is compared to the availability of public chargers. The city of San Mateo, which has the highest percentage of multifamily housing in the county (48%), serves as an example. The map comparison reveals areas with a high density of residents who rely on public infrastructure but have limited access to it. (continued) (continued) This discrepancy highlights the need for more equitable distribution of charging stations to support EV adoption in these high-density neighborhoods.
Percent of Multifamily Housing Percent of Rented Housing Public EV Chargers Count
Percent
- 600
69% 76%
(64%
81%
High-density neighborhoods in the City of San Mateo and number of public chargers available. Sources: SSMC Sustainability Dashboard, data from U.S. Census Bureau.
Key Obstacles Faced by Jurisdictions in Expanding Public EV Charging When considering the 10 9
expansion of public EV 8
charging stations,
representatives from the 6
county and 18 cities said
4 3
that funding, grid-related
challenges and space Number of Jurisdictions
2 1 1 1 1
limitations were the main
0 challenges that they are
Funding & Cost PG&E-Related Staff Capacity Competing Projects Planning facing. Lack of Suitable Sites Third Party Charging
Complexity of Requirements
Source: SSMC survey, Sept. 2024
Grid Capacity to Support EV Charger
Installation in San Mateo County
To help local jurisdictions identify regions of the grid suitable for installing EV chargers or in need of capacity upgrade, the CEC released EDGE, an online EV supply
equipment deployment and grid evaluation tool. The map
shows the grid capacity in San Mateo County. The areas in darkest shades of blue represent parts of the county that exceed capacity. These include Colma, most of East Palo Alto, San Bruno, parts of Brisbane, Menlo Park (Belle
Haven, Menlo Oaks), South San Francisco and some
40 19 70|
20 % 40 unincorporated areas.
Sustainable
S to 10)
San Mateo County
Source: California Energy Commission Economy. Equity. Environment
THANKS TO OUR
Key Recommendations
• San Mateo County: Empower residents with PROGRAM
accessible information with a multi-language
SPONSORS
webpage, webinars and hands-on workshops
about EV charging options, including costs,
choosing and installing EV chargers, reputable
installers, incentives and rebates. CHAMPION
• Cities: Prioritize public EV chargers in key
community spaces, soliciting feedback and ED N
identifying high concentrations of multifamily RRO
units and renters.
• Cities: Band together to purchase EV chargers ANAL
through pooled procurements.
• Cities: Consider installing streetlight chargers
near apartments and multifamily units.
• Cities: Collaborate with Peninsula Clean Energy International Brotherhood to identify apartment and multifamily building of Electrical Workers (IBEW) contacts and offer financial and technical
Local Union 617
support for installing EV chargers.
• Cities: Incentivize private employers to expand
employee and customer EV charging. LEADER
• Cities: Form partnerships with private and PENINSULA
public parking lots with EV chargers to allow
nearby residents to charge their cars during CLEAN ENERGY hours when the lots are not being used.
• San Mateo County and cities: Collaborate to
PARTNERS
identify public and private lands that might be
made available to third-party EV charging nod SAMCEDA
San Mateo County Economic Development Association
network operators through long-term leases.
• State legislators: Promote equitable charging
samTrans
rates that offer residents of multifamily housing
and CARE and FERA recipients access to local
public DC fast chargers at lower-cost, off-peak Visit bit.ly/SSMCDonate residential utility EV rates.
and Support Our Work
• State legislators: Support legislation
encouraging vehicle-to-everything charging
Download the
that allows EVs to feed electricity back into the
Full Report at bit.ly/
grid or other systems and also provides power
IndicatorsReport2024
to homes during power outages.
www.sustainablesanmateo.org