Are you a leader in your local community? If so, you put a lot of time and thought into finding ways to make your city more appealing to businesses and new residents. As EVs gain popularity among drivers and fleet owners, you may want to explore how cities can make their communities more EV-friendly. Here are some tips.
1. Walk Your Talk to Build More Trust in EV Adoption
Whether you’re a government official or a local business leader, people look up to you for direction. Showing up to a town hall meeting in an economical EV or converting part of your company fleet to electric vehicles speaks volumes about your commitment to making your community cleaner and your fellow residents healthier, as Charged EVs’ Josh Cohen advises.
Tout Your Savings
Keep track of your expenses as well. If you’re like most EV owners, you’ll spend so much less on fuel and maintenance that you’ll wonder why you didn’t go electric before. Be sure to show other residents how much you’ve saved by switching to an EV.
Emphasize EVs’ Health Benefits
Then there’s the health angle. Once people see how much they can save by purchasing their own electric personal and fleet vehicles, they’ll be more open to other reasons why EVs are a great way to get around in the 21st century.
Instead of stressing global climate issues, though, think local. How can switching to electric vehicles (EVs) affect the health of your fellow residents?
It turns out that it can help quite a bit, especially for your community’s youth. New studies show that the gases emitted by diesel buses can cause severe respiratory issues. Since children are still growing, their respiratory systems are more vulnerable to these toxic emissions. These gases flow into the vehicle’s interior, causing passengers to breathe polluted air.
The same goes for passenger cars and heavy-duty fleet vehicles. Drivers and anyone riding along breathe in low levels of toxic fumes. Over time, this exposure can lead to chronic health challenges.
Driving an EV sidesteps all those health risks. With zero toxic emissions, drivers, passengers, and passersby will all breathe better. People will think twice when it’s their health — or their children’s — at risk.
2. Create EV-Friendly Communities by Installing More EV Chargers
Here’s where businesses, city governments, and utilities can all contribute to EV growth in your city and its surrounding communities. When you install a new EV charging station in a community, it’s like hanging a “Welcome” sign for prospective residents who drive EVs.
While businesses, schools, parks, and community centers can benefit from providing users with the opportunity to charge their cars, they first need to partner with their local utility to ensure that the grid can handle the increased demand from the new charging facilities.
If the utility needs to upgrade the local grid, you and other leaders can still encourage businesses and others to create EV-capable or EV-ready spaces. That way, when the utility has strengthened the grid, all they must do is install the chargers themselves.
Encourage real estate developers and management companies to install chargers in their tenants’ parking spaces. As the EV adoption rate grows to its predicted 25% by 2030 and 50% by 2036, more tenants will demand charging spaces for their cars.
Having that number available by those dates sets them — and your community — up for success in attracting young, upwardly mobile tenants. Although those years sound far off, remind your real estate contacts that 2030 is only a few years away. Since apartment and condominium buildings are long-term investments, they’ll have all the infrastructure in place to attract stable, well-paying tenants for years to come.
3. Assist Individuals and Organizations with Applying for EV Incentives
States, local governments, and utilities are all possible funding sources for individuals and businesses to purchase electric vehicles or install EV chargers on their properties.
The federal government, too, offers a tax credit for individuals, businesses, and tax-exempt organizations that install EV charging infrastructure at their homes or places of business. Businesses that meet specific labor requirements can receive a credit of up to 30% per item.
Private investors with an interest in promoting EV use could be fruitful sources of funds as well. After all, who wouldn’t want to invest in an industry growing as rapidly as the EV charging space?
But it all starts with an application. As a local business leader or government official, you can help local individuals and businesses track down and apply for assistance.
The more EVs on local roads, the more likely it is that other EV owners will join them. And the more EV charging stations along your streets and highways, the more welcome EV owners will feel visiting your city, or even relocating there.
4. Coax EV Automakers and Charging Equipment Manufacturers to Relocate to Your City
As a community leader, you know well what benefits your city offers. But do automakers and EV charging infrastructure manufacturers know how moving their plants to your area could help them attract better employees, save on operating expenses, and pay lower taxes?
Meet with local business leaders, government officials, and community organizations to research what features will make your city attractive to these companies. Available housing, well-performing schools, recreational facilities, and robust infrastructure all make a metropolitan area a prime prospect for relocation.
Then, find a local marketing team to create brochures and other presentations targeting manufacturers in the EV space.
Collaborate with state and local government officials to develop relocation packages that will attract electric vehicle (EV) manufacturing companies to your area. Grants, subsidies, and corporate tax breaks add even more incentives for EV businesses looking to relocate.
Partner with local businesses to provide scholarships to students who want to learn trades and other skills EV manufacturers will need. Having a ready supply of skilled labor remains one of the top factors that attract companies to an area.
5. Harness the Power of Intrinsic Motivation to Convince the Naysayers
Perhaps you have people in your community who aren’t enthusiastic about the rise of EVs. When they hear about plans to attract more EV owners to the area, they might raise objections at town halls, in letters to the editor in local newspapers, and in other venues.
Instead of fighting fire with fire, listen to them. It’s possible that they fear legislation making vehicles powered by internal combustion engines illegal, as some communities have proposed.
Unfortunately, coercion is the wrong way to motivate a change in behavior or outlook, according to a wide range of studies in human psychology. Give them a reason to stop fighting your plan to make your community more welcoming to EV drivers.
It’s intrinsic motivation — one of the most powerful ways to convince people to change their minds. Granted, they might never buy an EV of their own, but they’ll come to see the value in welcoming others who do want to drive one. Here are some ways to help them change their minds.
Although these naysayers might not want to drive an EV, they probably do want:
- Cleaner air to breathe
- Healthier transportation options for their school-aged children
- Increased tourist traffic to bring an influx of cash to local businesses
- A thriving local economy with well-paying jobs
- More manufacturing businesses are moving in, bringing tax dollars with them
Earlier in this post, we discussed the benefits of cleaner air and healthier transportation in becoming an EV-friendly community. But doing so can also benefit your local economy. Revenue can come from:
EV-Driving Tourists and Business Travelers
EV charging stations operate on networks that show which locations have readily available charging stations. If travelers see that your town lacks charging infrastructure, their money will go elsewhere.
It’s not only the money they’ll spend on charging their cars. EVs still take longer to fuel than diesel or gas cars, as a US Department of Transportation (USDOT) article points out. Drivers must fill that time with activities, which could include shopping, sipping a cup of coffee, or relaxing over a meal. EV charging stations are usually located near these amenities or on-site, bringing even more revenue to area businesses.
Increased Job Opportunities and Tax Revenues
EV and EV charging infrastructure manufacturing companies bring jobs to the areas where they are located. New plants brought a $10 billion investment to Kentucky and Tennessee, creating 10,000 jobs in the process, according to the USDOT piece.
That’s just one example of how manufacturing facilities serving a fast-growing industry can benefit the communities that host them. The tax revenue they’ll generate for your community, too, can help fund parks, road improvements, and better schools for generations to come.
EV charging facilities also bring in new jobs. After all, they need skilled employees to maintain their equipment in addition to people to staff their cafeterias, brew coffee, and stock their shelves.
All you and your EV readiness teams need to do is show the naysayers how attracting more EVs to your city will deliver these benefits. When they see all the ways that having an EV-friendly town can help them, too, they’ll be more likely to support your initiative.
Learn More About Becoming More EV-Friendly at the EV Charging Summit
When you come to an EV Charging Summit event, you’ll benefit from the expertise of the finest minds in the EV industry. Learn how other communities have overcome challenges to welcome more electric vehicles to their area.
Don’t miss out on the opportunity to join the ranks of communities that have created more jobs, generated more revenue, and cleaned up their air by becoming more EV-friendly. Reserve your spot at the Summit today!
