LACI Innovation Pilots Provide Valuable Opportunity to Test New Technology and Scale What Works in Greater LA and Beyond
As we seek to accelerate cleantech adoption in Greater LA and beyond, LACI’s innovation pilots are creating important testbeds to do so while also addressing community needs and creating economic opportunities. Ultimately, our goal is to test market-ready technology and business model innovations at the community level, and to then scale those solutions more widely.
LACI currently operates six innovation pilots across Greater Los Angeles in collaboration with a number of community stakeholders and startups, deploying cleantech solutions via innovation sandboxes with technologies that include e-bikes, induction stoves, EV car share services, charging, shuttles, and van rentals.
In keeping with LACI’s commitment to creating an inclusive green economy, we prioritize designing and implementing these pilots with neighborhoods that often face disproportionate air pollution and underinvestment. Our innovation pilots bring critical clean energy and zero emission transportation solutions that address community needs, improve air quality and expand access to transportation, in line with the goals set by LACI’s Transportation Electrification Partnership and Clean Energy Partnership.
Addressing the most pressing challenges at scale often begins with testing solutions locally, and I’ve been fortunate to see firsthand how these pilots can change the lives of Angelenos. For example, LACI launched the South Central Power Up (SCPU) e-bike lending library in 2024 in partnership with seven organizations serving the South Central LA community, and the Los Angeles Department of Transportation (LADOT), with funding from the California Air Resources Board (CARB). The largest program of its kind in the nation, the pilot is a result of over two years of collaboration, outreach, and organizing from the community organizations that serve as hubs to rent e-bikes and provide training including People for Mobility Justice, Ride On! Bike Shop, RideWitUs, SCOPE, T.R.U.S.T South LA, Esperanza Community Housing, Mercado La Paloma, Labor Community Strategy Center, and Community Services Unlimited.
We are proud that less than a year into the pilot, riders have already logged more than 16,000 miles on the e-bikes, and this figure continues to climb, with meaningful results. For instance, one participant has used an e-bike to commute to a job he otherwise would not otherwise have been able to get to–underscoring the important role these pilots play in creating economic opportunities in our communities. For additional information about the South Central Power Up E-Bike Lending Library, please visit https://www.southcentralpowerup.com.
Oftentimes, the pilot solutions prove beneficial beyond their original intent. For instance, take LACI’s free EV cargo van rental pilot, launched in collaboration with LADOT and with funding from CARB. Originally created to support goods movement needs for communities in South Central, this pilot has recently expanded to include supporting relief efforts after the devastating LA fires–thereby addressing local challenges during a time of great need.
LACI’s innovation pilots also provide an opportunity to work with incredible partner companies to tackle some of the most pressing challenges facing our communities. We are proud that many of these groundbreaking partner companies are alumni of the LACI incubation program. LACI has worked with one portfolio company, Envoy, to implement two successful EV car share programs at Housing Authority of the City of LA (HACLA) affordable house developments in Pacoima and Rancho San Pedro, and we are preparing to launch a similar service at HACLA Pico Gardens on the eastside of LA. As a result of these pilots, LACI worked with Congresswoman Nanette Barragán to introduce federal legislation that would create a national program to fund EV car shares plus charging at affordable housing developments. Subsequently, the 2022 Omnibus spending bill passed by the U.S. Congress included language directing the U.S. Department of Energy to “prioritize funding for EV car share programs at public housing facilities,” modeled on the results of LACI’s San Pedro innovation pilot.
LACI is committed to equitable access to cleantech and we hope to take the lessons we learn to scale similar programs throughout the LA region and beyond as we move toward a clean energy and zero emissions future.
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