Los Angeles, CA USA

In partnership with ThinkWatts, University of California Los Angeles (UCLA), Watts Labor Community Action Coalition (WLCAC)

In Los Angeles, there’s a disparity in who has access to electric vehicle charging and cars. In this car-powered city, jobs and people depend on infrastructure, and unfortunately, EV chargers are more concentrated in rich communities. Homeowners are more likely to install EV chargers in their homes, and given that about 60 percent of Angelenos rent, it's much more difficult to charge EVs, since they're hard to find near multi-unit housing.  EV drivers migrate to richer neighborhoods to charge, leaving gas-powered drivers in the city’s poorer neighborhoods, reducing air quality, and creating a feedback loop that harms low-income neighborhoods. At the same time, the people (many of whom are BIPOC) who operate in the gig economy spend disproportionately higher amounts of money on gas.

From an upward socioeconomic mobility standpoint, making EV charging more available can bring more money to low-income rideshare employees. There are also immense environmental benefits to making EVs and charging more available: according to research, electrifying a single Uber or Lyft vehicle yields the environmental and emissions benefits of electrifying about three private vehicles.

We’re here to flip the switch. 501CTHREE is working with community leaders, EV charging experts, and local lawmakers to make EV equity a priority here in Los Angeles. By meeting with and connecting stakeholders in the EV space, we’re going to help pass legislation that can be a model for other communities facing EV injustice. Our partners at KIGT, UCLA, and ThinkWatts are leaders in EV justice.