Transportation Electrification - California Climate and Energy Collaborative

Barrier 1: Transportation Electrification

Barrier Statement

Lack of coordination between vehicle electrification, charging infrastructure, building systems, and the grid limits the resilience and energy benefits of transportation decarbonization, leaving communities unable to fully realize the potential of clean mobility investments and emission reductions.

Filterable Database

How communities are experiencing this barrier

View the details on what communities have shared with SLECC from across the state.

Key challenge discussed in - Los Angeles

Need for sophisticated management: Programs that rely on EVs and stationary batteries must carefully “piece out” capacity for multiple uses (mobility, building demand, backup). Without strong operational systems, complexity discourages projects from moving forward .

Key challenge discussed in - Los Angeles

Fleet battery management: While many municipal and school buses use only part of their daily range, leaving untapped storage capacity, coordinating fleet use for both mobility and grid support requires sophisticated day-to-day planning. Current policies, demand-response penalties, and lack of management tools make it risky and difficult to rely on EVs for critical backup power.

Key challenge discussed in - Inland Deserts

Electric vehicle (EV) adoption and charging infrastructure in the Inland Southern California desert region remain well below the state average, reflecting geographic and equity disparities in clean transportation investment.

Key challenge discussed in - Inland Deserts

Transportation is the single largest contributor to Palm Springs’ greenhouse gas emissions, and addressing this requires both infrastructure and behavioral strategies to promote clean mobility under extreme climate conditions. Palm Springs’ geography and extreme heat create added challenges for mode shifts, as walking, biking, and transit use become difficult during long periods of 110°F+ temperatures

Local Solution Opportunities

SLECC stakeholders have brainstormed the following solution opportunities that can be taken by local leaders. Existing examples of progress or pathways to make further progress are highlighted if known.

Local Solution

Co-locate stationary storage with fleet depots or critical facilities to guarantee baseline resilience even when buses return depleted.

Existing Examples of Progress:

LA Metro’s electric bus fleet demonstrates the potential of EV batteries as supplemental storage for microgrids, but in practice buses often return from routes with depleted batteries, limiting their resilience value. Stakeholders emphasized that realizing this potential will require coordinated planning to reserve capacity for grid use and pairing EVs with stationary batteries at critical facilities.

Further Progress Pathways

Region(s): Los Angeles

Local Solution

Integrate active transportation with heat adaptation.

Existing Examples of Progress:

Palm Springs received a grant to study the impact of heat and shade on transportation, which will inform infrastructure design, such as shaded walkways and cooling corridors, to make walking and biking viable even in hot months.

Further Progress Pathways

Region(s): Inland Deserts

Local Solution

Integrate charging equity into local climate and mobility plans, ensuring chargers are installed where residents live and gather, not just along highways.

Existing Examples of Progress:

Further Progress Pathways

Region(s): Inland Deserts

State Solution Opportunities

SLECC stakeholders have brainstormed the following solution opportunities that can be taken by state leaders. Existing examples of progress or pathways to make further progress are highlighted if known.

State Solution

Develop planning tools and technical assistance to help local agencies manage the complexity of integrating EVs into microgrids.

Existing Examples of Progress:

Further Progress Pathways

Region(s): Los Angeles

State Solution

Reform demand-response and incentive structures to reduce penalties and encourage experimentation with dual-use EVs

Existing Examples of Progress:

Further Progress Pathways

Region(s): Los Angeles

State Solution

Allow non-IOUs to be Program Administrators under the Transportation Electrification Framework

Existing Examples of Progress:

Further Progress Pathways

Region(s): Statewide

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Additional Resources

Please share any additional resources you would like to include by emailing eecoordinator@civicwell.org.