Solano Electric Vehicle Transition Program

The Solano Transportation Authority created the Solano Electric Vehicle Transition Program to implement, identify, and overcome barriers to the deployment of electric vehicles in the Solano County region. Currently, many processes related to the permitting and installation of electric vehicle charging infrastructure are on an ad-hoc basis and there are few coordinated efforts among Solano County’s seven cities, and the County of Solano. As electric vehicle use increases in California, this program aims to address these issues and improve the county’s readiness to adopt electric vehicles. The Solano Electric Vehicle Transition Program identified five tasks to guide their project: streamline permitting and inspection for electric vehicle charging stations and improve installation process, analyze potential locations for electric vehicle charging infrastructure, install trailblazer signage for plug-in vehicles, conduct electric vehicle awareness activities, and conduct training sessions for city governments.

Several challenges were identified throughout the course of this program, including issues with streamlining permitting and inspection fees related to electric vehicles; pooling resources due to liability issues among individual cities in the Solano County region; adjusting permitting and inspection guidelines to reflect conditions that are specific to certain cities; accounting for site specific commercial installations that make providing permitting checklists and standardized fees more challenging; and general unfamiliarity among some installers and city, county, and utility representatives with electric vehicle supply equipment installations that may lead to delayed projects or misapplied codes.

In response to these challenges, the Solano Transportation Authority generated several recommendations to assist local jurisdictions in Solano County to develop a best practices for electric vehicle supply equipment permitting and inspection, including implementing a method for online submission, review, and modification of project drawings and plans; adopting a “standard” checklist while allowing modifications for city-specific concerns; and creating an online jurisdiction map that installers can easily reference.