The presentation will consist of a panel of representatives in Santa Barbara County who have worked to advance zero-emission vehicle (ZEV) adoption in the region. Panelists will share their experience with ZEV implementation efforts, including EV charging station site host engagement, fleet electrification, capacity-building activities with underserved communities, and ZEV investments. The panel will highlight best practices, challenges, and future plans to scale up ZEV adoption.
Sarkes Khachek will present on their development of the Central Coast Zero Emission Vehicle Strategy, SBCAG’s progress with bus fleet electrification, and their agency’s experience applying for Charging and Fueling Infrastructure grant funding from the U.S. Department of Energy.
Kristian Hoffland will share insights from the City of Santa Barbara’s previous installation of over 60 chargers and plans to double output over the next year. Kristian will also highlight the City’s total cost-of-ownership tool for municipal fleet electrification, assessing the cost-effectiveness of fleet electrification.
Jerel Francisco will discuss strategies for equitable EVSE development and investments, including increasing charging access for low-to-moderate income tenants in multifamily residential housing developments and for regional EV travel.
Cameron Gray will share his experience working with Electric Drive 805 and a growing network of transportation decarbonization partners. He will also explore CEC’s partnerships with community-based organizations to expand multilingual ZEV education activities and will highlight their partnership with Ecology Action to deliver bilingual EV purchase guidance services for low- and moderate-income households.
All of the panelists will explore the grant funding opportunities that the panel has collaborated on to bring state and federal ZEV investments to the region, including the challenges they have encountered when trying to form partnerships with EV charging sites for grant funding applications and potential solutions that will help us have shovel-ready EV charging sites when additional funds become available in the future.
Speakers
Sarkes Khachek is the Director of Programming at the Santa Barbara County Association of Governments. SBCAG is the Regional Transportation Planning Agency for Santa Barbara County. One of SBCAG’s initiatives is the Central Coast Coalition which is a coalition of regional agencies on the Central Coast that speak as one voice to advocate for priorities and needs. The Central Coast Coalition recently completed a six-county Central Coast Zero Emission Vehicle Strategy that aimed to identify charging infrastructure needs for interregional travel from San Benito to Ventura Counties to serve as a resource for securing funding for infrastructure.
Kristian Hoffland works at the City of Santa Barbara’s Energy & Climate division as a Buildings and Vehicle Decarbonization Analyst focusing on buildings and vehicle decarbonization efforts including developing and managing EV charger installation contracts and incentives, climate action planning, NZE building design assistance, and building decarbonization education and resource planning. Previously he worked in the City of Washington DC developing the country's first building energy performance standard and developing and enforcing the nation’s most stringent green and energy codes after working for several years as a project Architect.
Jerel Francisco is the Zero Emission Vehicle Specialist in the Sustainability Division at the County of Santa Barbara. Jerel’s work with the County focuses on electrifying the transportation sector and supporting the adoption of alternative forms of transportation. Specifically, his work involves planning public-facing EV charging installations throughout the county, fleet electrification, and developing the County’s Zero-Emission Mobility Strategy. Jerel’s experience consists of local government clean mobility planning with the City of Sacramento, overseeing a $44 million private investment in zero-emission vehicle technology, and the implementation of the County of Santa Barbara’s fleet electrification process. Before coming to Santa Barbara, Jerel completed his masters in Transportation, Technology, and Policy at UC Davis supporting research for community-based electric vehicle carsharing and automated vehicle policy.
Cameron Gray, Director of Climate Mitigation Community Environmental Council. Cameron guides CEC’s Climate Mitigation program to achieve a rapid and equitable transition to zero-emission transportation, 100% renewable energy, and zero-waste food systems across the South Central Coast region. He has helped CEC build diverse teams and new partnerships so the nonprofit's climate action efforts can better serve the region’s historically underserved communities. He is a representative of the Central Coast Climate Justice Network and is a member of the Uplift Central Coast Southern Subregional Steering Committee. He has helped to convene and facilitate collaboration on transportation decarbonization with the Electric Drive 805 collaborative, Ecology Action’s EVs Para Todos/EVs for Everyone purchase guidance program, and Visión y Compromiso’s network of promotoras.