Educate your Community

Here are ten key electric vehicle (EV) messages designed to help you educate people in your community about the benefits of EVs and talk through perceived barriers. While not intended to serve as a public handout, this long-form textual document is useful for anyone who wants to start digging into the world of EVs.

As electric vehicles (EVs) become more popular, many questions have surfaced regarding their batteries, environmental impact, and ethics. There’s no doubt that the increasing demand for EVs will increase the demand for components that make up the vehicles, like batteries. The following talking points address common questions surrounding the impact EV batteries have and identify progress being made in this space. Each talking point is followed with references from studies and articles for those that want to dive deeper.

Content needed to get you started sharing information and resources about electric vehicles with your community. You can cut and paste information and resources onto your website, your newsletter, and use it in a press release to local media. You should customize the content to include activities your city is doing, too.

Engage Your Audience

Need a handout for your next electric vehicle (EV) event? EV Fast Facts quickly covers EV basics and addresses some of the more common myths and perceived barriers in an accessible, graphical format. Great for distribution at community gatherings and events.

Our electric vehicle (EV) quizzes can be a fun way to test your audience’s EV IQ, whether that be on your website or at an event. Use our questions and answers to create a quiz on your survey software of choice, and you’re ready to start testing your audience. For a fun twist, consider combining the quiz with a giveaway like a Level 2 charging station, week in an EV, etc.

One of the biggest barriers to electric vehicle (EV) adoption is lack of experience. Hosting a Ride and Drive event gives employees and community members an opportunity to try different EV models, compare and contrast, and learn about the technology firsthand. Our toolkit contains all of the information you need to organize your own event including a step-by-step checklist, literature to hand out, logistics sheets, social media guide, and more.

This guide will improve your social media game through with sample tweets and posts, and arm you with helpful tips to educate your followers on electric vehicles.

Need an electric vehicle photo for your website or handout? Choose one from our library to kick your graphics up a notch and improve your messaging.

A convenient, compiled list of the GreenStep Cities best practices that relate to electric vehicles along with star level examples for each best practice. To learn more about the GreenStep Cities program click here.

Comprehensive plans are a great way to encourage EV adoption in communities because they set long-term goals to work toward. The Great Plains Institute developed the guide linked below to provide resources to local governments as they craft comprehensive plans. Drawing examples from the Minneapolis-Saint Paul metropolitan area as well as several Greater Minnesota examples, it provides relevant guidance for cities across the Midwest.

Local governments can make a big impact in electrifying transportation through zoning ordinances. This summary guide, developed by the Great Plains Institute, is designed as a reference for local governments looking to develop EV zoning standards or development regulations. The examples are not intended to constitute recommendations, but rather to show the breadth of choices made by communities across the United States to integrate electric vehicle supply equipment into development regulation.