About the EV Council

In March 2022, the Washington Legislature passed and Governor Inslee signed the 16-year, $17 billion Move Ahead Washington transportation package, which has six times the amount of funding for climate and clean transportation investments than its 2015 predecessor. This transformative legislation (ESSB 5974) created a new Interagency Electric Vehicle Coordinating Council (EV Council), so state agencies could better collaborate on efforts to accelerate electric vehicle adoption and reduce transportation-sector greenhouse gas emissions.

The EV Council is a unique collaboration of a permanent group of designated staff people from the following ten Washington state agencies, serving as council members:

• Department of Commerce (Co-Chair of EV Council & Executive Committee)
• Department of Transportation (Co-Chair of EV Council & Executive Committee)
• Department of Ecology (Executive Committee member)
• Department of Enterprise Services (Executive Committee member)
• Utilities and Transportation Commission (Executive Committee member)
• Department of Agriculture
• Department of Health
• Office of Financial Management
• Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction
• State Efficiency and Environmental Performance Office

The EV Council is steered by an Executive Committee, which includes members who were active in the formation governance of the EV Council, and whose agencies cover the vast majority of the state’s electric vehicles program-level and rulemaking work. The Executive Committee tracks progress on the EV Council’s work and makes recommendations on governance, meeting agendas, decision-making, committee structure, and other administrative actions to ensure a path to success.

Purpose and Responsibilities

The EV Council is governed by RCW 43.392, which gives direction for interagency coordination on the state’s transportation electrification efforts, and for maximizing the use of both state and federal resources. Recommendations from the EV Council focus on increasing access to electric vehicles, ensuring reliable EV charging infrastructure across the state, and promoting available market incentives to benefit all Washingtonians. The objectives of the EV Council include to:

• Develop a statewide transportation electrification strategy: In 2023, the EV Council, its advisory committee, consultants and supporting staff worked closely together to craft a scoping plan to help achieve Washington’s requirement that all passenger and light duty vehicles of model year 2035 or later sold in our state be electric vehicles. This comprehensive plan, called the Transportation Electrification Strategy (TES), was submitted in February 2024 to the Legislature for its consideration. Access the strategy.
• Identify and coordinate all state and federal electric vehicle-related funding: The EV Council works to ensure that the benefits of using electric transportation are accessible and available to everyone in the state. For current funding opportunities, please see the link under “Updates” in the sidebar.
• Engage with local governments, communities, and the Environmental Justice Council to ensure the statewide transportation electrification strategy, grant distribution, programs, and activities associated with advancing transportation electrification are not only equitable but benefit vulnerable and overburdened communities.
• Measure outcomes and collect and publicize data to track progress on policy and program implementation. Coordination will focus on preventing duplication and ensuring data consistency across state agencies. The EV Council meetings will provide regular updates on performance measurements in relation to the 2035 transportation electrification goal for Washington. This data analysis will also be provided in the EV Council’s Annual Report to the Legislature.

The EV Council carries out its scope of work through a set of industry advisory committees focused on what is needed to implement specific EV items. Throughout the year, informational reports will be provided at the EV Council meetings to aid in developing recommendations for programs and policies.

Valuable work was delivered in 2023 by an EV Advisory Committee comprised of industry stakeholders and community representatives. Members gathered information and feedback to craft recommendations for the development of the statewide TES, and partnered with the EV Council on public engagement and communication strategies. In 2024, public input will be channeled through several of the committees working on topics such as passenger vehicles and charging infrastructure. Committees will offer updates publicly at EV Council meetings, where EV Council members and the public will have the opportunity to offer input and ask questions.

More details can be found in the following:

• 2023 EV Council Annual Report
• 2024 EV Council Work Plan

These efforts ultimately support the state’s goal to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the transportation sector, to achieve a cleaner future for all Washingtonians.