GPI is thrilled to announce that Southfield, Michigan, and Dayton, Ohio, are the first cities in their states to earn designations as Charging Smart communities! These designations recognize these cities’ work to become ready for the deployment of electric vehicles (EVs) and EV charging equipment. Both Southfield and Dayton earned a Bronze designation.
In addition to Southfield and Dayton, many other communities took important steps toward transportation electrification. With funding from General Motors’ Corporate Giving Climate fund, GPI facilitated a cohort of 28 dedicated municipalities across Michigan and Ohio working to advance electric vehicles and charging infrastructure in their communities.
Charging Smart is a tailored, no-cost technical assistance and designation program that helps communities prepare for transportation electrification in a way that ensures benefits are accessible to all. It is funded by the US Department of Energy and led by the Interstate Renewable Energy Council (IREC), with GPI as the lead partner.
Taking steps to become the first Charging Smart designees in Michigan and Ohio
As part of the program, participating communities can achieve three designation levels: Bronze, Silver, and Gold. See the Charging Smart program guide for details on the criteria required for these designations.
To earn a Bronze designation, Southfield and Dayton communities provided electric vehicle education opportunities for their community members, engaged with their electric utility on electrification topics, and incorporated EVs and charging infrastructure into their community’s planning documents. Communities also completed actions that contributed to making the benefits of transportation electrification available to everyone.
We are proud to recognize Southfield and Dayton’s hard work and leadership in transportation electrification and look forward to designating more communities in Michigan and Ohio soon!
Celebrating the success of the Michigan and Ohio cohort
Along with in-state partners, GPI provided participating communities with guidance and technical assistance to meet their transportation electrification goals and reduce barriers for community members to access the benefits of electric vehicles and other electrified transportation options.
Our partners included Clean Fuels Ohio, the Ecology Center, the Electrification Coalition, Power a Clean Future Ohio, and the Michigan Municipal League.
The Charging Smart program has six categories of best practices that communities can work toward: planning, regulation, utility engagement, education and incentives, government operations, and shared mobility.
These categories provide communities with a wide range of actions they can complete to earn a designation. Beyond Dayton and Southfield, local governments in Michigan and Ohio are taking action to become EV-ready. Examples of what communities participating in the program have achieved across these categories include the following:
Summit County, Ohio: The county updated its website to include information about electric vehicles and charging stations, as well as connect community members to the local electric utility to understand what rebates and incentives are available.
University Heights, Ohio: The city hosted the Sustainable Home Fair and invited electric vehicle organizations like Drive Electric Northeast Ohio to participate and educate community members about EVs. University Heights also developed an EV charging guide to help community members understand their EV charging needs and what they would need to know for installation.
Saugatuck Township, Michigan: The township developed a zoning ordinance defining uses for charging infrastructure, encouraging new charging stations, and providing requirements and standards for installed stations.
Eastpointe, Michigan: Eastpointe installed charging stations that are free to use at the City Hall building. The city also updated its zoning ordinance to require 20 percent of off-street parking in residential and commercial properties to be EV-capable. The ordinance also specifies accessibility guidelines for charging station parking spaces and recommends that charging stations be powered by a renewable energy source.
Participating communities continue to work toward meeting their transportation electrification goals. As they reach certain milestones, communities can receive a Charging Smart designation.
Get involved with Charging Smart
Through both Charging Smart and GPI’s past cohort-based technical assistance work, more than 100 communities within six states and four Native nations have accelerated their electric vehicle readiness. Learn more about the history of GPI building the foundation for Charging Smart in this story map.
To learn more about the Charging Smart program, read the Charging Smart 101 blog and visit the Charging Smart website. If you are interested in participating in the program and earning designation, fill out the form on the website.
If you have questions about the program or would like to talk to GPI’s Charging Smart team, please reach out to us at [email protected].
