Key findings from 2024 California transportation electrification programs report

Discover program impacts, challenges, and opportunity areas

Learn more about Cadmus’ latest evaluation of the utility-led charging infrastructure programs across California.

These efforts evaluate nearly $750 million in investments—making this the most comprehensive look yet at how utility programs are helping move the state toward widespread EV adoption.

The report presents a comprehensive review of program performance, key outcomes, lessons learned, and recommendations to strengthen future deployment efforts. It spans technical and financial analysis, offering a roadmap for how to align EV charging infrastructure advancement with California’s ambitious climate, air quality, and transportation goals.

Topic 1: Costs of installing medium/heavy-duty depot charging

Summary

Electric trucks and buses are rolling out across the U.S.—from rural package delivery hubs to busy urban transit depots. However, few reliable sources assess the costs of installing the charging infrastructure for these fleets—costs that are born by either the electric utility, site host, and/or fleet. That’s where our work comes in.

Cadmus and Energetics lead the largest 3rd-party evaluation in the country of medium- and heavy-duty electric vehicle charging—an evaluation that encompasses over 60% of California’s Class 3 to 8 electric vehicles as of the end of 2024.

What we found

In our latest report, we analyzed data from 150 MDHD charging sites across California. These sites vary widely in size, location, and vehicle type. Here are some key takeaways:

• Cost per kW decreases as site capacity (in kW) increases along a predictable curve (see graph)
• MDHD charging sites cost an estimated $800,000 to $1,000,000 per site, including labor and equipment for utility-side upgrades, customer-side upgrades, and EVSE.
• Small sites with limited upgrades are as cheap as $35,000 per site. The largest sites with 5+ MW of capacity can be $3 to $4.5 million per site.
• As shown in the graph, L2 and DCFC chargers follow similar cost curves for utility-side upgrades (left graph) but diverge on the customer side—DCFC ports are generally cheaper per kW to install.