Communities Taking Charge Accelerator (Topic Area 1)

Topic 1 applications may cover one or more of the following project concepts (but are not limited to the concepts listed):  

1. Innovative public charging models that address challenges for residents of multi-family housing and those without safe access to home charging which may include: 

• Curbside reservation-based charging for long-dwell use (e.g., overnight);
• Lower investment curbside charging options such as “bring your own cord” or solutions that leverage existing street furniture;
• Innovative charging solutions for multi-family accessory parking;
• Secure storage with charging for privately-owned e-micromobility devices (e.g., dense urban neighborhoods, multi-family buildings, campus/dorm facilities, etc.); and
• Multi-modal community charging hubs, to support the charging of multiple vehicles across transport modes (including e-micromobility, transit, etc.) 
  

2. EV charging deployment strategies that lower costs and/or charging times; 

3. Affordable, equitable charging rate design, including: 

• Rates charged to drivers; and
• Payments for individuals reliant on public charging. 
  
  

Proposed prime recipient(s) and subrecipient(s) must be one of the following: 

• Institutions of Higher Education;
• For-Profit Entities and Non-Profit Entities; and
• State and Local Governmental Entities, and Indian Tribes.
  

Planning Projects: May be best fit for communities in the beginning stages of providing charging access to EV drivers/riders without home charging. Examples: 

• Needs assessments; 
  
• Feasibility analyses to inform an upcoming procurement; 
  
• Site analysis for a future pilot; 
  
• Securing necessary permits; 
  
• Pre-construction engineering design and planning activities; 
  
• Community engagement to collect feedback on proposed projects; 
  
• Impacts/policy analysis to inform potential negative impacts from a project and mitigation measures (e.g., housing cost increases, traffic increases, fire safety risk);  
  
• Creating a strategic plan or designing a new program and its guidelines; 
  
• Developing or updating local regulatory codes, zoning, and/or permitting changes to accelerate the deployment of charging. 
  

Demonstration/Deployment Projects: Will implement forward-looking concepts for how to best provide charging access for renters, multi-family housing residents, and others without home charging, and should result in lessons learned that can be scalable and repeatable in other communities around the country. Examples: 

• Demonstration and/or deployment projects can deploy Level 1, Level 2, or Direct Current (DC) Fast Chargers. 
  
• Encouraged to actively explain and include a process/budget for the dissemination of project info and replication in other communities. 
  
• Projects may want to partner with other organizations or national labs that have the outreach capability. 
  
• Encouraged to address major barriers to individuals currently without access to home charging or tackle challenges associated with charging at scale—including improved cord management, reduced theft, faster permitting times, improved fire safety, reduced cost through innovative business models, and leveraging existing electricity infrastructure.