FLO Partners with CA State Senator to Introduce Equitable EV Charging Act

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Feb 21, 2023, 09:02 ET

Legislation will better address EV charging needs of underserved drivers

SACRAMENTO, Calif., Feb. 21, 2023 /PRNewswire/ - FLO, a leading North American electric vehicle (EV) charging company and a smart charging solutions provider, has partnered with California State Senator Lena Gonzalez (D–Long Beach) to introduce legislation to require the state's Energy Commission to assess the EV charging needs of underserved and low-income communities in California. SB 507, the Equitable EV Charging Act, could benefit roughly 55% of Californians living in low-income communities by quantifying how many chargers are needed to adequately support their adoption of EVs.

"While existing state planning efforts to expand EV adoption have been instrumental, this legislation will further this work by analyzing infrastructure needs in low-income communities, who are more impacted by harmful air pollutants and would benefit from greater access to EVs," said Cory Bullis, Public Affairs Director at FLO.

In 2022, California's Air Resources Board adopted rules to phase out the sale of new gas-powered vehicles by 2035, renewing conversations about the importance of infrastructure planning.

"Priority populations hit first and worst by climate change, air pollution, and poverty need to be front and center in our planning efforts for the transition to electric vehicles," said Senator Gonzalez. "This legislation will help us understand their infrastructure needs and measure whether we are on track to close the gaps in equitable access to EV chargers."

In 2018, former Governor Brown signed a law authored by Assemblymember Phil Ting (D – San Francisco) to assess California's EV charging needs. The assessment found the state will need nearly 1.2 million public and shared chargers by 2030 to meet the fueling demands of the 7.5 million passenger plug-in electric vehicles (EVs) anticipated to be on California roads at that time. Additionally, in a separate analysis required by similar legislation signed into law that year, the state found that low-income communities have the fewest public chargers per capita, highlighting issues of equitable access to charging infrastructure.

According to CalEnviroScreen, the top 30% of neighborhoods most impacted by pollution are primarily populated by residents of color.

"The Equitable EV Charging Act is the natural next step from my original Assembly Bill 2127 to better understand the unique charging needs of various underserved communities," said Assemblymember Ting. "I thank Senator Gonzalez for her leadership to continue this important conversation."

In 2022, FLO and ChargerHelp! sponsored the EV Charging Reliability Transparency Act, which supports the state's transition to electric vehicles by mandating a reliability standard for charging stations and was signed into law by Governor Newsom. In New York, FLO and ChargerHelp! are sponsoring similar legislation this year to require the disclosure of reliability data for all publicly funded EV charging stations in the state.

About FLO

FLO is a leading North American electric vehicle (EV) charging network operator and a smart charging solutions provider. We fight climate change by accelerating EV adoption through a vertically integrated business model and by delivering EV drivers the most dependable charging experience from curbside to countryside. Every month, we enable more than 1 million charging events thanks to over 80,000 fast and level 2 EV charging stations deployed at public, private and residential locations. FLO operates its network across North America and our high-quality charging stations are assembled with care in Michigan and Quebec. To learn more about what "EV Charging Done Right™" means to us, visit flo.com.

About Senator Gonzalez

Senator Lena Gonzalez represents the 33rd Senate District, which includes the City of Long Beach and portions of South Los Angeles and Southeast Los Angeles including the cities of Bell, Bell Gardens, Cudahy, Huntington Park, Lakewood, Lynwood, Maywood, Paramount, Signal Hill, and South Gate. Senator Gonzalez lives in Long Beach with her family. Website of Senator Gonzalez: www.sen.ca.gov/gonzalez.