Electric Futures
Empowering Communities to Shape Their Electric Mobility Future
Electric Futures works closely with communities across the Southeast to build future-focused coalitions that expand access to e-mobility and EV-related workforce development opportunities. Through a community-centered approach, the initiative identifies and advances accessible, innovative transportation solutions that reflect the unique needs, priorities, and aspirations of each community.
SACE works in partnership with EVNoire to conduct meaningful community-based research, build relationships with trusted local organizations, and connect residents and community leaders with clean transportation policies, resources, incentives, technologies, and workforce opportunities. By combining research with sustained community engagement, Electric Futures helps communities better understand the changing transportation landscape and strengthens their ability to shape and lead their own clean transportation futures.
Explore the Community
Electric Futures started as a pilot project across three Georgia cities and now includes a separate North Carolina project, Electric Futures Raleigh. Learn more about each community and its unique e-mobility goals and progress.
Albany, Georgia
As part of the Electric Futures Georgia pilot project, Albany represents rural Southwest Georgia, which has seen less investment in clean transportation than cities like Atlanta and Savannah. Closing the gap can lower transportation costs, improve air quality, and create new workforce and economic opportunities in Albany – and the community envisions a future where all of this is possible.
Atlanta, Georgia
As part of the Electric Futures Georgia pilot project, Atlanta represents Georgia’s largest urban center and a rapidly changing transportation and economic landscape. Raising awareness of these changes and how to take advantage of them can help residents envision innovative ways to put EVs and other forms of electric mobility to work in Atlanta, to move towards a healthier, more accessible transportation system.
Savannah, Georgia
As part of the Electric Futures Georgia pilot project, Savannah represents the project’s coastal community – a major port and transportation hub that is also hurricane- and flood-prone. E-mobility work in Savannah is an important opportunity to explore how EVs and battery technologies can support emergency preparedness, resilience, and cleaner transportation while addressing the specific needs and goals of coastal communities.
Raleigh, North Carolina
Funded by the Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation, Electric Futures Raleigh seeks to understand the transportation and workforce needs of Raleigh residents, as the city works toward its ambitious sustainability and clean transportation goals and North Carolina experiences major growth in its EV and battery industries. Connecting residents to the correct tools can help ensure that local voices have a seat at the table to shape the region’s promising transportation future.
Our Approach
- Increase community knowledge of electric mobility technologies, workforce training, career pathways, and employment opportunities.
- Conduct community-based research to better understand residents’ knowledge, attitudes, beliefs, priorities, needs, and aspirations related to transportation and electric mobility. Research methods include compensated surveys, key informant interviews, focus groups, and other forms of community engagement.
- Invest in trusted local leadership by identifying community-based organizations and leaders to serve as paid Community Liaisons. These partners help ground the work in local knowledge, strengthen relationships, and build community trust.
- Create opportunities for shared decision-making by working with Community Liaisons and Local Advisory Boards of community leaders to co-create e-mobility plans that reflect community-identified priorities and pathways to transportation and workforce opportunities.
- Collaborate with local governments to connect community priorities with broader transportation, sustainability, and clean energy planning and help create pathways for recommendations to continue beyond the project period.
- Engage workforce development partners to increase awareness of training and career opportunities while sharing community insights that can help workforce programs better reflect residents’ needs, interests, and aspirations.
The Electric Futures team and local partners have disseminated over 700 compensated surveys as part of our community-based research on residents’ knowledge, attitudes, beliefs, priorities, needs, and aspirations related to transportation and electric mobility.
Electric Futures has engaged over 30 community, government, workforce, and organizational partners to help achieve each community’s e-mobility goals.
Electric Futures has supported more than 20 community events, from trunk-or-treats and Earth Day celebrations, to church gatherings and workforce building events for high school and college students.