Sacramento is the likely location for Volkswagen’s first EV-friendly Green City initiative, part of a $2 billion settlement the company must make for years of cheating over emissions from its diesel vehicles.
California’s $800 million share of the settlement includes a package of investments in zero-emission-vehicle (ZEV) car-sharing services, transit applications, and freight transport projects, to be located in two California cities. And while the projects that are part of the first $200 million round of investment are expected to be detailed later this month, our preliminary investigation points to the state’s capital, Sacramento, as poised to benefit big from a Green City designation.
Electrify America, a Volkswagen subsidiary formed late last year to manage the multibillion-dollar payout, recently ran a job listing for a director of its Green City program. The job requires the director to be “responsible for continuous contact with the mayor of Sacramento and transportation officials regarding Green City operations and development.” A similar online listing for a manager of the Green City’s fleet and operations also referenced Sacramento.
Electrify America told Car and Driver that it has a draft plan for the Green City but would not comment on the location.
Smart Traffic Signals, Silicon Valley Ties, and Shuttles for the Homeless
Sacramento’s proposal for Green City status, obtained by Car and Driver under a public-records request, shows how the city might spend its windfall. The first priority would be to build 15 fast chargers for electric vehicles on city property. These would be followed by 15 more within the first six months, including some at community centers located in disadvantaged communities.
The next step would be to create a “robust car-share and ride-hailing system designed around affordable, accessible zero-emission vehicles.” Sacramento would deploy electric vehicles at light rail stations and neighborhood electric-vehicle hubs. There would even be an “electric boulevard” designed to “integrate creative public art and amenities with concentrated, educational, and accessible EV charging.”
Some of the money might go to the city’s smart traffic programs, which aim to link fiber-optic connected traffic signals and sensors to new vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) and vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I) technology. Electrify America would also be encouraged to “maximize its investment and test autonomous electric vehicles throughout the region.”
Another priority for Sacramento’s Green City programs would be a system of dynamic ZEV shuttle routes to expand access for homeless individuals by connecting them to shelter and services. The proposal says that these might utilize autonomous electronic transit vehicles that would follow fixed routes, or even ride-sharing services such as Uber and Lyft.
Sacramento also sees the Dieselgate money as way to forge closer links with Silicon Valley. The city is already part of a Smart Cities Collaborative with Google’s urban-tech spinoff Sidewalk Labs and is planning to integrate street-level sensors that will track congestion with mapping data from Waze and Here.
Who Benefits from Plugging In?
A second Green City initiative, which must run in a city of approximately 500,000 people predominantly consisting of disadvantaged communities, would also favor Sacramento or Fresno.
Kelly Fong Rivas, spokesperson for Sacramento mayor Darrell Steinberg, told Car and Driver: “We worked hard to demonstrate why Sacramento would be the best choice, are confident in our bid, and are hopeful we will ultimately be selected as Electrify America’s Green City.”
But Steinberg will not be counting his city’s chickens just yet. Sacramento’s bids for an EV car-share grant from the California Air Resources Board—headquartered within the city—and for a federal Department of Transportation Smart City Challenge last year were both unsuccessful. And many of Electrify America’s Green City job listings were recently altered to remove all references to Sacramento.
Jennifer Venema, sustainability program manager for the city of Sacramento, is already putting a brave face on it. In an email to Volkswagen in January she wrote, “Regardless of the Green City chosen, we look forward to collaborating and hope to support VW’s statewide investments in electrification and smart mobility.”
Venema will be crossing her fingers that, for Sacramento, the third try will be a charm.
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