Zooming in on electric vehicles: How Duluth, Minnesota, is preparing for the EV future

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Nearly 33 million electric vehicles (EVs) nationwide – that's the number of vehicles the United States should be prepared to support through a national charging network by the year 2030, researchers at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) estimated in a recent groundbreaking study. Improving reliable, equitable, and widespread access to electric vehicle charging infrastructure in all communities will be critical to ensuring the continued success of the EV revolution.

That's why NREL researchers enthusiastically took on the challenge when the opportunity arose to partner with the community in Duluth, Minnesota, in an effort to expand their local EV infrastructure.

“Feasible, local solutions for access to EV charging will help us achieve greater, nationwide impact,” said NREL's Emily Kotz, transportation research project manager who led the Communities LEAP (Local Energy Action Program) funded efforts for transportation-related tasks. “Duluth provided a great opportunity to collaborate with both the city and community partners like Ecolibrium3 to jointly identify strategies to improve planning for EV charging access.”

Expanded charging infrastructure required in Duluth, Minnesota, to support expected EV adoption

As part of the U.S. Department of Energy's Communities LEAP, NREL worked with a multi-stakeholder coalition in Duluth representing residents, businesses, government and utilities to develop a model to improve building efficiency, beneficial electrification, clean transportation and address economic development for residents. .

Communities LEAP aims to facilitate economic and environmental benefits to the community through DOE's clean energy commitment. Communities LEAP provides opportunities for low-income communities with energy challenges, who are also disadvantaged and/or experiencing direct economic impacts, to receive assistance in accelerating their local energy transition. Selected communities will be matched with technical assistance providers to help them achieve their clean energy goals. After a successful first cohort, Communities LEAP recently announced a second class of communities.

This partnership came at just the right time, said Mindy Granley, sustainability officer for the City of Duluth.

“I had been researching ways to start conversations with the community about electric cars and needed the analytics to support those conversations,” Granley said.

One aspect of that effort was to analyze the current EV charging environment in Duluth and forecast the city's charging infrastructure needs toward 2030.

“We helped Duluth identify a strategy for achieving its current EV infrastructure goals and then scaled demand based on future projections so the city can not only achieve its EV charging vision but also provide greater mobility options for everyone in the community,” Kotz said. NREL's analysis predicted that 10%-15% of light-duty private vehicles in Duluth will be plug-in electric vehicles by 2030, based on modeling results for the city of Duluth and findings detailed in NREL's report. National charging network study 2030. That level of demand is keeping pace with state and national trends and infrastructure needs, Kotz confirmed.

“We based our analysis on NREL's comprehensive national EV infrastructure analysis, looking specifically at the city and then further breaking it down by census tract to understand where in the city charging infrastructure is expected to be needed ” said Kotz.

These projections mean that 75 to 85 EV charging ports are needed throughout Duluth to support multifamily properties, such as apartment complexes or townhomes, where two or more families can live at the same time. Duluth has proposed and passed an ordinance that would require EV charging stations or EV-ready parking spaces for any new parking space that supports multi-family housing. The city aims to promote greater access and equity in EV charging infrastructure with the ordinance.

The ordinance aims to incrementally expand infrastructure to meet growing demand as new multi-family housing units are built.

“NREL's analysis helped us start informed conversations with the community,” Granley said. “Data legitimizes the conversation about where we need to go and how we can get there. A huge takeaway is that we now have a solid foundation to reach companies and local players to talk about potential needs and how we can support them in installing EV infrastructure. It has led to policy changes and new partnerships. Knowing where to start is half the battle.”

That analysis led Duluth to first focus its efforts to expand EV charging infrastructure on multifamily properties and places with long-term residents, Granley added. “By taking this approach, we hope to make it easier for people who are less likely to have access to electric vehicles or electric vehicle charging. Everyone should have the opportunity to make a greener transportation choice, without being hindered by where they live,” she says.

Consideration of equity issues and environmental justice in electric vehicle adoption

Economic and accessibility factors are well-known challenges that influence electric vehicle adoption for underserved and underserved communities. Therefore, NREL's analysis focused on neighborhoods in Duluth that met these criteria. The analysis focused not only on increasing EV use and meeting charging needs, but also on ways to increase overall mobility access for local residents.

“As the city considers where to locate public charging stations, community involvement and input will be critical throughout the process,” Kotz said. “Many of these neighborhoods have low car ownership rates among a population with many low-income renters. Residents who live in single-family homes with on-site parking and access to electricity are more likely to be early adopters. Where more resources and conversations are needed is how to work with multifamily residents to add EV charging stations and shared electric micromobility like e-bikes or e-scooters, and create mobility hubs to accelerate the electrification of buses and e-bikes and to support such. .”

Under the White House Justice40 initiative40% of the total benefits from certain federal investments in clean transportation, energy efficiency and similar areas should go to underserved communities like those in Duluth. Health, air quality, economics, and community energy resilience are some of the well-known benefits of electric vehicle adoption, charger investments, and environmental justice initiatives.

“EV infrastructure is a way to bring new business to the community. Lighting and sidewalk improvements can also be incorporated into the project,” Kotz said. “Convenient charging infrastructure added to multi-family homes and workplaces will expand the EV market. Electric car sharing options are also a way to expand access in underserved areas.”

Furthermore, Kotz added that NREL's modeling can help inform important policy and infrastructure developments in Duluth's underserved and underserved areas, providing important considerations for transportation projects such as the reconstruction of a Main Street business corridor.

Better infrastructure and planning will help those who experience barriers to electric vehicles gain better access and mobility, said Jodi Slick, founder and CEO of Ecolibrium3, a Duluth-based organization focused on equitable and sustainable change in the city.

“As an environmental justice organization, we work with the city and other stakeholders to make the best choices to advance a just energy transition,” Slick said. “Having access to NREL's expertise through Communities LEAP ensures our work is informed and can meet future needs.”

Learn more about community LEAPs work in Duluth and NRELs research into sustainable transport and mobility. Sign up for NREL's quarterly transportation and mobility research newsletter, Sustainable mobility is importantto stay informed of the latest news.

By Justin Daugherty, NREL