Item - 2023.IE3.6

The Infrastructure and Environment Committee recommends that:

1. City Council receive the report (April 19, 2023) from the Executive Director, Environment and Climate, for information.

This report provides additional information in response to City Council direction to report back on options, if any, for permitting private installation of electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure on public streets.

In Toronto, five (5) per cent of residents rely on residential on-street parking permits for parking their vehicles.  This percentage of residents who don't have dedicated access to parking will also not have dedicated access to charging should they wish to acquire an electric vehicle.  Commonly known in the electric vehicle (EV) industry as "garage orphans", these residents experience a challenge on one of the necessary pre-requisites to electric vehicle (EV) purchase and may be hesitant to embrace electric vehicle (EV) technology without private access to charging.

To date, the City's approach to meeting the needs of garage orphans has been to provide shared public charging access, via City-owned and operated public charging stations, on-street in some residential neighbourhoods, on-street in paid parking locations as well as in parking lots owned and managed by the Toronto Parking Authority (TPA). This is in addition to public charging available through other third parties, such as workplace charging.

This report considers two privately funded options that may meet the needs of garage orphans in the city but would result in some additional costs to the City due to the administration and oversight of the programs:

• Allowing the private purchase and permanent installation of privately owned charging stations located on-street in front of, or close to a resident's home

• Allowing "as needed" electric vehicle (EV) charging by running an electrical cord, covered with an accessible ramp, over the sidewalk to an on-street parking spot in front of a resident's home

Although on the surface, these two options seem to meet residents' immediate needs for charging, both options:

• create potential public safety risks, including potential physical accessibility issues on the sidewalk, requiring management by the City

• would incur costs which may be prohibitive to both the City and the resident

• would constrain the City's ability to effectively manage the right-of-way in the public interest

• would be inequitable by privileging only individuals who can afford to pay for the infrastructure a dedicated parking spot

It is therefore recommended that the two options discussed in this report not be considered by the City.

Understanding how to meet the urgent need for electric vehicle (EV) charging for garage orphans is key to achieving TransformTO's Net Zero Strategy goal of increasing the current share of all registered vehicles to 30% by the year 2030.  Currently underway is the development of a long-term Public electric vehicle (EV) Charging Plan which will clearly define the role for the City, the private sector and other interested parties in supporting the required uptake of electric vehicles (EV).

It is expected that many more opportunities to meet the needs of garage orphans will be identified through the development of the Public electric vehicle (EV) Charing Plan including the use of existing parking assets that can be found in school parking lots, community centres and public library parking lots.