The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) is the nation’s largest municipal utility, with over 8,000 megawatt electric capacity and serving the 4 million residents of the City of Los Angeles, its businesses and visitors. With its bold sustainability goals and leadership in transportation electrification, the utility plays an integral role as one of the founding partners of the Transportation Electrification Partnership (TEP). “TEP creates a forum for all stakeholders, not just utilities, to have input,” says George Payba, Environmental Affairs Officer at LADWP. “It fosters the creation of new ideas that otherwise wouldn’t have occurred in a closed system.”

With this collaborative spirit, LADWP has been able to go above and beyond some of its initial targets. The Charge Up LA Program, for example, provides rebates for LADWP residential and commercial customers who install Level 2 chargers (240 Volt) in their home or business in LADWP’s service area. Since its creation, this program has been highly successful to the point where LADWP has met its prior goal of 10,000 EV charging stations by 2022 two years ahead of schedule. “L.A. is on the road to meeting the city’s targets of 25,000 commercial charging stations by 2025 and 28,000 by 2028,” Payba said. 

To encourage more medium and heavy duty vehicles to go electric, the LADWP Board of Water and Power Commissioners approved a new commercial EV charging rate in November 2021 to speed expansion of publicly available, fast vehicle charging stations.

But it’s not enough to build out more EV charging stations; it’s just as important to focus on where those stations are being developed. “One of the key elements we want to focus on is putting more electric vehicle charging infrastructure in disadvantaged communities (DACs),” says Payba. In addition to rebates for EV chargers, LADWP offers a used EV rebate for up to $1,500. “Our goal is to place about 40% of EVSEs in DACs since those are the areas impacted most by the effects of climate change.”

Additionally, LA City Council recently approved an equitable hiring plan, which instructs LADWP to increase hiring from environmentally and economically disadvantaged neighborhoods and focus on “ensuring project labor agreements, prevailing wage and targeted hiring requirements” for clean energy jobs. The City anticipates creating 9,500 new jobs as part of the transition to 100% clean energy and to create a more inclusive green economy. 

In the same City Council meeting, the City of LA and LADWP took the historic step of requiring that100% of the City’s electricity come from clean, zero-carbon energy by 2035. Through a motion introduced by Councilmembers Paul Krekorian and Mitch O’Farrell, LADWP will lead the nation in this ambitious and game-changing commitment to sustainable energy. With these bold targets and key milestones, LADWP has set a precedent for the rest of the nation to continue on the path towards transportation electrification. 

As we push towards the future, it will be more important thanever for stakeholders and industries to coalesce and ensure that the region is prepared for a fully electrified transportation system. “Regional collaborations such as TEP have the power to create lasting, meaningful change as we work together to electrify our future. As we promote the discussion of innovative ideas, we look forward to future collaboration to achieve a more sustainable region,” said Payba. These efforts will undoubtedly prove worth it as we near TEP’s Roadmap 2.0 targets in 2028. He adds, “We hope that by the time the world arrives for the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games, people will see what an electrified region can be. From the airport to the stadium, people will experience a cohesive, seamless,
electrified transportation system and be inspired to achieve the same in their own regions.”

– Shevonne Sua, LACI Transportation Program Assistant

 The Transportation Electrification Partnership (TEP) is an unprecedented regional public-private collaboration to accelerate deep reductions in climate and air pollution by the time of the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games. All of our partners have committed to work individually and collectively to pursue policies, pilot projects, and other actions that are equity-driven, create quality jobs, grow the economy, and help the region reach the bold targets in the TEP’s Zero Emissions 2028 Roadmap 2.0.

One of the earliest industry leaders to join the Transportation Electrification Partnership in 2018, BMW has made bold strides in reaching a sustainable future through its efforts in transportation electrification. As an initial signatory of the California Clean Car Framework Agreement in 2019, the company has committed to annual reductions of vehicle greenhouse gas emissions through the 2026 model year, encouraging innovation to accelerate the transition to electric vehicles, providing industry the certainty needed to make investments and create jobs, and saving consumers money. In addition to their 2019 commitment, BMW has recently announced its goal to have electrification account for 50% of its global sales by 2030, expecting markets with attractive EV conditions to see a higher share. With bold policies being made on the local, regional, and state level, California is leading the way in this endeavor, and TEP has the right levers in place to move the LA region towards a zero emission future as we work to reach our Roadmap 2.0 goals by 2028. 

To reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, BMW has made clear that electrification is the path forward. With the all-new BMW iX in the mid-size SUV range and the BMW i4 as a 4-door sedan, electromobility has become an integral part of the BMW brand. Both models embody the company’s approach towards creating a sustainable product, as they are not only emission-free vehicles, but are also sustainably produced with regards to sourcing, production, recycling, and use of materials. Production on both vehicles has started and they will be available in the United States in the first quarter of 2022. By 2023, the BMW Group will offer a total of 25 electrified models globally (13 all-electric and 12 plug-in hybrids) which will cover 90% of all of the company’s vehicle segments. Thiemo Schalk, Government Affairs representative from BMW of North America says: “A great strength of BMW always was to have the right offer at the right time. We are very proud to be bringing the BMW iX and i4 to the U.S. market very soon, both will meet our customers’ expectations and pave the way for our all-electric product offensive to come real soon.”

This type of auto manufacturer commitment is a key driver in promoting the use of electric vehicles. By providing consumers with reliable zero emission vehicle options, EVs will become more accessible and attractive to consumers. 

Furthermore, BMW Group’s sustainability goals extend beyond the sale of electric vehicles; the company has taken a holistic approach not only to transportation electrification, but also to the sustainability of their supply chain and production process as a whole. The goal is a cut of at least 50% of GHG emission by 2030. The recently presented BMW Group i Vision Circular vehicle, for example, presents new ideas of how future BMW Group vehicles can merge sustainability with mobility through the circular economy principles: Rethink, Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. With the aim of achieving 100% use of recycled materials alongside bio-based raw materials, this vehicle will be a model for the company’s commitment to circularity, and thus decarbonization. 

The BMW Group is the first automotive manufacturer to set concrete company targets for reducing CO2 emissions in its supply chain by 2030, making it a pioneer in auto manufacturing circularity.

“The electrification of our products is one important way to reduce GHG emission,” says Thiemo Schalk. “Yet, real sustainability is more than that – we must avoid a shift of these emissions into the supply chain and battery production, and have to ensure ethical labor conditions and compliance with environmental standards all at the same time. The BMW Group has taken measures already to achieve this, and with our circularity strategy we keep on driving it even further.”

With these bold plans for transportation electrification and incorporating circularity in the production process, charging infrastructure will become increasingly important in the years ahead. For this reason, the automaker is among TEP partners that are keen to develop the right charging solution for everybody – at home, at work, on-street, and super-fast DC charging at hotspots and along all routes. Making electromobility available to everybody is the main task of this decade, the BMW Group believes. The more abundant and accessible charging infrastructure is, the sooner and easier the shift towards EVs will be.

Though work remains to achieve decarbonization and widespread electrification, with close cooperation between providers, utilities, government, and other stakeholders, a sustainable future becomes closer to our reach.

“We believe that there is more than enough innovative spirit and tangible solutions to tackle the challenge, much of which are gathered in TEP. This makes us a proud part of TEP, and together we will succeed,” Thiemo Schalk said. 

The BMW i Vision Circular. Source: BMW Group