Transportation Electrification and Clean Fuels | Raleighnc.gov

Electric Vehicles and Clean Fuels

Updated: Oct 17, 2024

Transportation contributes about 52% of total community greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in Raleigh, the largest source of our GHG emissions. All traditional gas-powered vehicles contribute to the large environmental impact of our car-dependent community. Raleigh’s Community Climate Action Plan (CCAP) includes numerous implementation efforts to get people out of their cars while also making the cars we use cleaner. The city is helping lead the way in taking climate action by working to transition our fleet of over 4,700+ vehicles and equipment from traditional fossil fuels to electric vehicles (EVs) and clean alternative fuels.

The CCAP also involves supporting opportunities for the private adoption of electric vehicle infrastructure and clean fuels as well as multi-modal transportation to make it easier and safer to bike, walk and take the bus. For more specific climate actions in energy related to transportation, please review Raleigh’s Community Climate Action Plan, Chapter 6.

In 2009, Raleigh was the first of three cities throughout the U.S. to pilot the use of electric vehicle (EV) charging. It has continued to lead the transition to EVs and clean fuel technologies. Electric vehicles produce no tailpipe emissions. For larger equipment where the technology is not ready to be electrified, there are clean alternative fuels that greatly reduce emissions.

The City is in progress of electrifying its own fleet. The City operates a diverse fleet ranging from police cars, fire trucks, dump trucks, lawn equipment to transit buses. The City is developing an EV Implementation Rollout Strategy which outlines a roadmap to transition our fleet of over 4,700+ vehicles and equipment to electric and clean alternative fuels over the next 10 years. It includes considerations for equity and public electric charging station opportunities, alternative fuel options where electric is not yet a feasible technology for City services, and the GHG emission reductions associated with vehicle replacements.

The City has long worked on clean transportation and created the Fuel and Fleet Transportation Plan in 2016, where we were able to transition over 80% of our fleet to clean alternative fuels. We continue to innovate and adopt new technologies and are now completing innovative projects like becoming the first local government in the state of NC to run our large equipment on renewable propane which is the cleanest option available for large equipment where the technology for electric has not yet caught up.

The City is also leading the way globally with the innovative Bio-energy Recovery Project. The City will convert the community’s wastewater into renewable natural gas which will fuel Raleigh’s transit buses, including the large expansion of the bus rapid transit system across Raleigh. This means that what we all flush down the toilet will become fuel for our buses! In addition to these renewable natural gas buses, GoRaleigh has deployed a growing number of electric buses and planned ahead with electric charging to continue to grow.

See the city’s CCAP Implementation Report for more information on these initiatives and more examples of the City’s move to electric in our fleet, transit, lawn equipment and associated charging. Also check out our Transportation & Land Use CCAP Dashboard and our Vehicle Fleet Services webpage. 

As electric vehicle adoption continues to grow across Raleigh, so does the need for adequate charging infrastructure. The City of Raleigh is incorporating public charging at several community centers throughout Raleigh. Although the city will not become the main provider of EV infrastructure throughout Raleigh, we continue to create opportunities to support public adoption of EV infrastructure in Raleigh and the region.

In support of public EV charging expansion, the city co-authored the EV Ready Playbook in partnership with Advanced Energy. This “playbook” provides best practices to residents, developers, and businesses for EV infrastructure, including guidance on codes and permitting, installation procedures, and hardware and software considerations. The Playbook is designed to be adopted by other local governments across NC, establishing consistent infrastructure standards and furthering growth of the entire EV market. The Playbook is also one of many resources within the Sustainable Business Toolkit, a collection of resources and support programs to assist Raleigh businesses, non-profits, individuals and organizations to take climate action.

The City of Raleigh requires a permit for this installation, and you can find more information from Planning & Development here. You can view the locations of the City’s public EV charging stations and other public EV charging stations around Raleigh here. Is one of the city’s public EV charging stations not working? Report it with SeeClickFix.

In addition to charging stations in their own city, Raleigh residents will also need reliable charging options when they leave the area. Fortunately, EV charging is growing throughout the state – though there is still much room for growth.

The State of North Carolina is building EV infrastructure using federal funding. The below map from North Carolina Sustainable Energy Association shows EV charging locations throughout the state.

See the map from North Carolina Sustainable Energy Association here: https://energync.org/dataplatfor/.

Dark blue sites are part of the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) Formula Program.

Jason [email protected]

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