The San Francisco Board of Supervisors on Oct. 8 voted unanimously to approve legislation to expand the number of electric vehicle (EV) charging stations in San Francisco parking facilities.
The legislation requires commercial parking lots and garages with more than 100 parking spaces to install EV charging stations in at least 10 percent of the parking spaces and is the first requirement of its kind in the nation.
Parking facility owners would be required to install the EV charging stations by January 1, 2023 and will be encouraged to work with EV charging providers to do so. The ordinance will apply to approximately 300 commercial parking facilities throughout the city.
San Francisco Mayor London Breed and Supervisor Aaron Peskin introduced the legislation on July 16, 2019.
The city has a goal of achieving 100 percent emission-free ground transportation by 2040 and increasing access to EV charging is part of the city’s strategy to reduce transportation sector greenhouse gas emissions, which account for 46 percent of the City’s overall emissions.
Seventy-one percent of the city’s transportation emissions come from private cars and trucks.
In addition to increasing charging stations on privately owned land, San Francisco has invited EV charging station providers to submit proposals to deploy EV charging stations at up to 38 municipal parking facilities that are accessible to the public. The city is in the process of evaluating the proposals received from interested EV charging providers.
In July, Mayor Breed also unveiled an EV Roadmap that sets a goal of 100 percent emission-free ground transportation by 2040. The roadmap lays out a plan for the city to reduce the financial and information barriers that are preventing people from adopting EV technologies.
San Francisco has successfully reduced its greenhouse gas emissions 36 percent below 1990 levels and has a goal of being a net zero emissions city by 2050.
The city in 2017 passed legislation requiring all parking spaces in new construction and major renovation projects be EV-ready and is currently transitioning its municipal passenger sedan fleet to be 100 percent zero-emissions by 2022.
