Item - 2022.IE31.17

The Infrastructure and Environment Committee recommends that:

1. City Council request the General Manager, Transportation Services to review the streets slated to receive on-street electric vehicle charging stations and to make recommendations on where painted bike lanes, or sharrows, can be upgraded to protected bike lanes in coordination with station implementation.

2. City Council request the General Manager, Transportation Services to ensure that the roll-out of public Electric Vehicle charging stations will not impinge on existing or future installations of bike lanes and cycle tracks.

3. City Council request the General Manager, Transportation Services, ensure that e-bikes and other electric microbility devices are included for consideration by the Electric Vehicle Working Group responsible for the Electric Vehicle file.

This report provides a status update on the implementation of the Electric Vehicle Strategy approved by City Council in 2020. This report also discusses how the Electric Vehicle Strategy will need to align with the TransformTO Net Zero Strategy to support achieving City Council's updated goal that 30 per cent of registered vehicles in Toronto be electric by 2030.

The Electric Vehicle Strategy which was approved in 2020 aligned its actions to help the City achieve an overall goal for transportation of 100 percent of transportation using low-carbon energy sources by 2050 (TransformTO 2017). Since the climate emergency was declared, City Council's more recent adoption of TransformTO Net Zero Strategy increases the ambition for vehicle electrification, with an interim 2030 community-wide target that 30 per cent of registered vehicles in Toronto are electric. Because on-road transportation accounts for 35 percent of Toronto’s greenhouse gas emissions, transitioning away from fossil fuel-powered vehicles is critical for reaching a community-wide goal of net zero emissions by 2040.

To date, the implementation of the Electric Vehicle Strategy is largely on track, with numerous City-led initiatives underway to support and encourage the transition to Electric Vehicles. This work is a cross-corporate endeavour, involving several City Divisions, Agencies, and Corporations, working individually and in collaboration with each other. The City’s Electric Vehicle Working Group provides a focal point for coordination of Electric Vehicle-related activities.

Access to charging is a necessary condition for Electric Vehicle adoption and a critical focus of the City’s Electric Vehicle-related work, including:

- Implementing requirements so that new buildings are future-proofed for Electric Vehicle charging;

- Providing funding and developing other approaches to support and encourage the retrofit of existing buildings with Electric Vehicle charging infrastructure;

- Providing publicly-accessible Electric Vehicle charging stations at on-street parking spaces, in Green P parking lots, and at City facilities;

- Providing funding and undertaking planning and policy development to support additional deployment of public Electric Vehicle charging infrastructure.

The City is also fostering the transition to electric vehicles through outreach and education on Electric Vehicles, leading by example through electrifying City Fleets, and supporting broader electric mobility.

The City is prioritizing the continued implementation of the Electric Vehicle Strategy, alignment of the Electric Vehicle Strategy with the Net Zero Strategy, and implementation of Net Zero Strategy Short-Term Implementation Plan actions related to Electric Vehicles.