EV Charging

The EV Charging Study Committee issued a report to Town Meeting 2017 to address the complexities

Since the report was issued in 2017:

• In January 2018, DPW updated the Transportation Access Plan (TAP) Guidelines (PDF) to require for Major Impact Projects (as defined in the Zoning By-Law) that 2% of all parking spaces be equipped with EV charging equipment and that another 15% be EV-ready.
• In 2018, staff developed with Eversource, Electrify America/Greenlots, and Greenspot a project to introduce EV car share and 20 Level 2 ports and 2 DC fast ports on Beacon Street, as part of the Beacon Street Green Transport Program.

The Committee explored:

1. Current status and future plans for town-owned EVSE.

2. Private ownership of EV’s and EVSE.

3. Evaluation of existing parking facilities for EVSE deployment.

4. Availability of grants and incentives for purchasing EV and EVSE.

5. Current Brookline EV permitting and regulatory mechanisms.

6. State and Federal level regulatory environment, including: legislation, potential Building Code amendments, Eversource programs, fees and incentives.

7. Examples of other municipal by-laws and codes related to EVSE.

8. Potential regulatory mechanisms within Brookline’s Zoning By-law and permitting process for incentivizing or requiring EVSE.

9. Identifying challenges unique to Brookline, such as the high proportion of rental and multi-family housing as well as a large number of residents who rent parking off-site, a group we identified as the “garage orphans” and the overnight parking ban.

10. Analyzed the Parking Survey data collected by the Moderator’s Parking Committee to determine approximate location of off-site overnight parking demand, (garage orphans).