Cities have tremendous influence over how and where infrastructure is built and serve as a critical and necessary partner in the transportation electrification market transformation. Great Plains Institute, which facilitates Drive Electric Minnesota and is a lead partner in Charging Smart, identified six principles that play an essential role in locally deploying electric vehicles (EVs): 

1. Planning—adopt planning language that promotes electric vehicle deployment and accessibility 
2. Regulation—create building codes to allow more installations of electric vehicle charging stations 
3. Utility engagement—collaborate with the utility serving the community to create electric vehicle utility programs, including charging incentives 
4. Education and incentives—provide education on electric vehicles and charging for residents 
5. Government operations—lead the charge toward electric transportation by installing public charging stations for your community and purchasing vehicles for your fleet 
6. Shared mobility—transition shared mobility options, such as buses, scooters, and bikes, into electric mobility options 

Charging Smart 

Charging Smart is a program that offers free technical assistance to local governments, giving them the tools to facilitate and speed transportation electrification to ensure its benefits are accessible to all. 

Charging Smart is funded by the US Department of Energy (DOE) Vehicle Technologies Office (VTO) and led by the Interstate Renewable Energy Council (IREC), with the Great Plains Institute (GPI) as the lead partner. It is built on the expertise of GPI’s partners and GPI’s experience with over 150 communities across six states and four Native nations. For a brief program overview, go to GPI’s Charging Smart 101 blog post. To fill out the interest form, go to the Charging Smart website.