Skip to content
CapRadio

CapRadio

listen live donate
listen live donate
listen live
donate
  • News
    • News

    • State Government
    • Environment
    • Health Care
    • Race and Equity
    • Business
    • Arts and Lifestyle
    • Food and Sustainability
    • PolitiFact California
    News
    • News

    • State Government
    • Environment
    • Health Care
    • Race and Equity
    • Business
    • Arts and Lifestyle
    • Food and Sustainability
    • PolitiFact California
  • Music
    • Music

    • Classical
    • Jazz
    • Eclectic

    • Daily Playlist
    Music
    • Music

    • Classical
    • Jazz
    • Eclectic

    • Daily Playlist
  • Podcasts & Shows
  • Schedules
  • Events
  • Support
    • Support
    • Ways to support
    • Evergreen Donation
    • One-Time Donation
    • Corporate Sponsorship
    • Vehicle Donation
    • Stock Giving
    • Legacy Giving
    • Endowment Support
    • Members
    • Member Benefits
    • Member FAQ
    • Member Newsletter

    • Fund drives
    • Drawing Winners
    • Thank You Gifts
    Support
    • Support
    • Ways to support
    • Evergreen Donation
    • One-Time Donation
    • Corporate Sponsorship
    • Vehicle Donation
    • Stock Giving
    • Legacy Giving
    • Endowment Support
    • Members
    • Member Benefits
    • Member FAQ
    • Member Newsletter

    • Fund drives
    • Drawing Winners
    • Thank You Gifts
  • About
  • Close Menu
 We Get Support From:
Become a Supporter 
 We Get Support From:
Become a Supporter 
  • Environment
  •  

Sacramento Trying Not To Leave Low-Income Drivers Behind In Push For 70,000 More Electric Vehicles

  •  Ezra David Romero 
Tuesday, February 20, 2018 | Sacramento, CA
Listen
/
Update RequiredTo play audio, update browser or Flash plugin.
Ezra David Romero / Capital Public Radio

By having access to the air district’s car-share program, Susan Brown has gained a new life. Brown says she lives in a food desert and now can use the cars for activities like grocery shopping and taking her dog to the dog-park.

Ezra David Romero / Capital Public Radio

Susan Brown lost access to her car last year. So, when two electric vehicles appeared at her low-income senior living complex in downtown Sacramento, she was all ears.

“Let me just say that God loves me, because it was perfect,” Brown said.

The two four-door Kia Sol EVs are part of the Sacramento Metropolitan Air Quality Management District’s free car-share program. Brown said she can now go anywhere she wants, so long as it’s within a limit of three hours to keep the cars available for others.

“I don’t get depressed because I know that I have freedom,” she said.

But not everyone’s as lucky: There are only four sites with two cars each under the program. And, in general, widespread access to electric vehicles is uncommon in Sacramento. For instance, the city runs a charging program in parking structures downtown. It’s mostly utilized by those who earn $75,000 or more annually.

021918Graph
Almost 50 percent of households earn less than 80 percent of the median income in the Sacramento area. These populations have some of the most challenges with transportation. This map outlines where existing charging stations (green dots) are compared to where disadvantaged communities are in the region. Click on the image above to view Sacramento's 2017 Electric Vehicle Strategy.  Sacramento 2017 EV Strategy

 

That could change under Sacramento’s new electric vehicle strategy, which city council passed last December. It calls for 75,000 new zero-emission vehicles, or ZEVs, and 2,200 chargers across the city in the next seven years. That’s huge growth from the 3,200 ZEVs and around 500 chargers in the city today.

Those numbers are Sacramento’s local contribution to the governor’s goal of 1.5 million ZEVs on California roads by 2025, and which would expand to 5 million by 2030.

But is the level of growth in Sacramento feasible in just seven years?

Steffani Charkiewicz leads the region’s electric car-share program. She said the vehicles are almost always checked out, but it didn’t start that way.

“There was a lot of work that went into it that we did not expect,” Charkiewicz said. “To convince them to go through the sign-up process and then to use the vehicle.”

She said the program, which connects people to ZEVs via the Sacramento Regional Housing Authority, could be ramped up, but it’s just a matter of finding long-term funding.

Jennifer Venema, Sacramento’s sustainability manager, says even though the city is excited about expansion there are issues, such as not having enough users. “Even with the grant funding and the offer of free-membership there has still been a struggle to hit the targets,” Venema said.

A company called Electrify America wants to clear that hurdle. Courts are requiring the subsidiary of Volkswagen to fund $44 million in electric vehicle investments in Sacramento. Richard Steinberg, in marketing and communications for Electrify America, says roughly 35 percent of that is going toward low-income communities.

“Typical electric vehicle buyers today are more affluent,” he said. “This was a really concerted effort that we should focus on improving access and improving awareness.”

Electrify America’s plan is to split about 1,000 ZEVs between two car-share programs. The group is also looking at an electric transit system and electric ride-hailing. Also, an expanded scrap and save program for zero-emission vehicles is in the process of being ramped up statewide. But even with beefed-up programs, getting low-income residents on board could prove difficult.

“Often, we don’t address the issues within the diverse communities until later,” said Julian Canete with the California Hispanic Chambers of Commerce.

He says that’s a problem, because half of the households in Sacramento earn less than 80 percent of the median income for the region. “They’re behind the curve,” he said. “We just have to see more of them in disadvantaged communities, so they are on the same learning curve as everybody else.”

Canete says it’s going to take a wide-scale, targeted effort to change the mentality that ZEVs aren’t for people of color. He uses the example of the popularity of trucks in the Latino community as an example.

“They [manufacturers] do a great job when they want to sell a Chevy truck to Latinos, because that’s, like, the No. 1 truck they buy,” Canete said. “There has to be more diversity within their marketing campaigns.”

021918MLKExpo 3(P)
The Sacramento Electric Vehicle Association showcased a number of ZEV’s at the Martin Luther King Jr. Diversity Expo in downtown Sacramento in January. Bob Haran, with the group, is showing Dr. Howard Delane a Nissan Leaf. Ezra David Romero / Capital Public Radio

 

Simeon Grant, with the youth outreach group GreenTech, says to successfully reach low-income communities of color with the message that ZEVs are for them will take education and direct exposure.

“The best educators have them get inside, see it and feel it,” Grant said. “As opposed to just talking about it.”

Grant brought the Sacramento Electric Vehicle Association to this year’s Martin Luther King Jr. Diversity Expo in downtown Sacramento. They showcased a Tesla, a Nissan Leaf and others.

Local resident Mai-Gemu Johnson had a lot of questions about the cars. Johnson owns a pickup and is hesitant about buying a ZEV because of the lack of charging infrastructure in the city and the cost of getting into one.

“Low income and communities of color don’t always have the resources to be able to buy these things,” Johnson said. “For many of us it’s a daily struggle. Once we’re able to provide resources to our communities, then we can live healthy and balanced lives, then we can look at all these other things.”

What will get him into an electric car? He says it all comes down to cost and getting his bills paid off.  

It’s a reality that groups implementing the plan will have to figure out: how to make zero-emission vehicle use as affordable as possible for all income levels.


Follow us for more stories like this

CapRadio provides a trusted source of news because of you.  As a nonprofit organization, donations from people like you sustain the journalism that allows us to discover stories that are important to our audience. If you believe in what we do and support our mission, please donate today.

Donate Today  

Ezra David Romero

Former Environment Reporter

Ezra David Romero is a former Environment Reporter at CapRadio.  Read Full Bio 

Sign up for ReCap and never miss the top stories

Delivered to your inbox every Friday.

 

Check out a sample ReCap newsletter.

Thanks for subscribing!

Thank you for signing up for the ReCap newsletter! We'll send you an email each Friday with the top stories from CapRadio.

Browse all newsletters

More Environment Stories

Yolo County Resource Conservation District

How a new law is bringing more attention to natural carbon sequestration

February 6, 2023

AP Photo/Jae C. Hong, File

Law banning drilling near California community areas put on hold, sent to voters

February 6, 2023

Kenneth James/California Department of Water Resources via AP

California snowpack levels soar after back-to-back atmospheric rivers

February 1, 2023

Most Viewed

10 new California laws that go into effect in 2023

How a new law is bringing more attention to natural carbon sequestration

Still testing positive after day 10? How to decide when to end your COVID isolation

Millions of Californians are at risk of losing Medi-Cal coverage

Coronavirus FAQ: Does a faint line on a self-test mean I'm barely contagious?

We Get Support From:
Become a Supporter

Most Viewed

10 new California laws that go into effect in 2023

How a new law is bringing more attention to natural carbon sequestration

Still testing positive after day 10? How to decide when to end your COVID isolation

Millions of Californians are at risk of losing Medi-Cal coverage

Coronavirus FAQ: Does a faint line on a self-test mean I'm barely contagious?

Back to Top

  • CapRadio

    7055 Folsom Boulevard
    Sacramento, CA 95826-2625

    •  
      (916) 278-8900
    •  
      (877) 480-5900
    •  Contact / Feedback
    •  Submit a News Tip
  • About

    • Mission / Vision / Core Values
    • Stations & Coverage Map
    • Careers & Internships
    • Staff Directory
    • Board of Directors
    • Press
  • Listening Options

    • Mobile Apps
    • Smart Speakers
    • Podcasts & Shows
    • On-Air Schedules
    • Daily Playlist
    • Signal Status
  • Connect

    •  Facebook
    •  Twitter
    •  Instagram
    •  YouTube
  • Donate

  • Listen Live

  • Newsletters

CapRadio stations are licensed to California State University, Sacramento. © 2023, Capital Public Radio. All Rights Reserved. Privacy Policy | Website Feedback FCC Public Files: KXJZ KKTO KUOP KQNC KXPR KXSR KXJS. For assistance accessing our public files, please call 916-278-8900 or email us.