This is how cities can unleash the electric vehicle transition

The growth of electric vehicles is unstoppable. Major changes such as improved battery range, catalyzed by supportive government policy, have resulted in a boom in sales of EVs in recent years. Accounting for only 1% of new car sales globally in 2015, the latest figures show 14 million EV sales globally in 2023, accounting for around 18% of new sales. By 2040, it’s predicted there will be around 240 million passenger EVs on the road.

To accommodate the adoption of EVs, charging networks are growing rapidly; however, creating a large charging network in cities poses challenges. City governments often have limited finances and capacity to plan and manage charging infrastructure on their own. Fortunately, the private sector stands ready to support cities in this mission, with charging operators, fleet operators (e.g. delivery companies) and the investors behind these companies playing a vital role in cities reaching goals to expand EV charging.

In collaboration with public and private partners, the Forum’s Global New Mobility Coalition has launched a new roadmap for cities, providing guidance on how cities can attract investment and buy-in from the private sector to scale EV charging whilst reflecting the limited finances of many cities.

So how can city governments foster private sector investment in charging?

Setting out a clear strategy for charging from the city government can send strong signals to the private sector about the demand for charging. Cities may explore a charging strategy accompanied by a delivery programme, both of which can bring confidence to charging operators and investors about the future conditions for operation. Cities worldwide, from Portland to Barcelona to Tokyo, have already set out strategies for charging.

Additionally, identifying and providing access to suitable publicly-owned land for charging infrastructure is one of the most impactful actions a city government can take to encourage private sector buy-in and investment. With urban real estate at a premium, unlocking public land for charging can be a huge incentive for charging operators. To ensure efficient delivery and management of EV strategies, city governments should also build internal resources, such as staff expertise on charging issues.

For example, London launched its EV Infrastructure Strategy in 2021 outlining a vision for charging, including forecasts for EVs and public chargers needed by 2030, and a commitment to unlock city-owned land for charging. In 2023, Transport for London’s (TfL) EV Infrastructure Delivery programme awarded three contracts to a charging operator to install rapid chargers across over 100 bays.

The city provided access to its land and undertook work to ensure swift installation. This model allowed London to scale charging infrastructure despite limited finances.

Standardizing processes, infrastructure, and EV user experience brings predictability to charging and can drive growth in EV adoption. For operators and their investors, setting standards helps create more certainty around the future conditions for EV charging, strengthening the business case. For drivers, this helps to make charging an EV more convenient.

Making charging a requirement for new buildings indicates future demand to charging providers whilst future-proofing building stock. Setting standards for charging operations, such as ensuring that charging points are brand-agnostic, creates a more predictable experience for EV drivers, aiding EV adoption. Similarly, cities could ensure that paying for charging is seamless by making contactless, open-loop payments a universal standard.

Good progress has already been made with existing national legislation, such as the EU's Alternative Fuels Infrastructure Regulation and the United States' National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Formula Program. These legislations require charging stations to have contactless, open-loop payments as standard, aiding the convenience and ease of using charging points.

Data is a key factor in helping to inform decision-making and understand key trends in EV charging, such as existing EV ownership, traffic demand forecasts and existing or planned EV infrastructure. By providing this data to charging operators and fleet operators, city governments can help the private sector to better understand when and where to invest and install charging.

Additionally, exploring partnerships where the private sector provides data back to cities can help to inform decision-making on where charging needs are greatest.

For example, many rideshare drivers are reliant on public charging networks, which in many cities are still very limited, particularly for fast charging. Uber is collaborating with cities worldwide to inform decision-making on charger installations.

Based on the availability of near-home charging for drivers, the mix of fast vs. slow charging and more, Uber has created charging demand scenarios to help cities identify priority areas for new charging installations. In London, Uber also contributed £5 million to install 700 new public charging points in three areas of the city with limited charging infrastructure, increasing the city’s overall charging network by over 7%.

With growing demands on electricity grids from multiple sectors, ensuring grid capacity and access in the transition to EVs is crucial. Whilst city governments may not be responsible for managing grids in many cases, they can still play a key role, particularly in facilitating relationships between grid operators and charging providers. City governments can support charging providers by streamlining processes around grid access, such as simplifying permitting and identifying sites for installation.

City governments can also aid resilience and stability of the grid by encouraging charging providers and fleet operators to adopt bidirectional charging, particularly at large charging installation sites. To aid flexible and stable grids, cities, where possible, should also support the private sector in introducing clean energy power sources at charging stations, working with utility companies, national government and grid operators to reduce complexities often faced in connecting supplementary power sources to the grid.

In Nottingham, England, the city government installed 40 bi-directional chargers following the purchase of around 250 EVs. These chargers are paired with solar arrays and batteries for on-site energy production and storage. The vehicle-to-grid chargers allow the vehicles and solar panels to charge the site's batteries, which can then power the site or feed back into the grid, reducing demand during peak times, and generating income for the city when feeding electricity into the grid.

These policy areas, as well as other areas such as public tenders and procurement processes, show how despite often being limited in financial resource, cities have significant levers to foster investment and commitment from the private sector to scale EV charging.

The Global New Mobility Coalition’s policy roadmap is available for city governments to use to support their journey to electrification.