Fourteen States Coalesce Efforts to “Drive Electric USA”
April– 1, 2021 ⎼⎼
Salt Lake City, Utah
A partnership of the U.S. Department of Energy Clean Cities Vehicle Technologies, DOE VTO, program recently won over $1.8 million in DOE funding to significantly advance electric vehicle (EV) adoption in their states.
Drive Electric USA shows the unification between Clean Cities across the nation and their overarching goal of improving infrastructure, education and adoption for battery electric vehicles, EV’s. EVs are quickly being incorporated into transportation planning strategies as the newest technology that provides zero emission driving. Now more than ever, good resources providing sound EV education is imperative across various stakeholders in both the public and private sector. With a growing demand for EVs and more auto manufacturers committing to battery electric, the infrastructure and education for this newest vehicle technology transition must be in place for large scale adoption of EVs to be successful.
“Utah is really a head of the game in the field of EV infrastructure in the Intermountain West touting over 50 DC Fast Chargers. This project will allow Utah Clean Cities to further develop the electrification movement for both passenger vehicles and fleet vehicles within our state while sharing valuable expertise with our regional and national partners.” commented Tammie Bostick, Executive Director of Utah Clean Cities.
Utah Clean Cities, UCC, is not a newcomer to the world of advanced vehicles technologies, quite the opposite, they have led the charge in Utah. UCC has served Utah with vast expertise in advanced vehicles technologies such as electric vehicles and has done this work for over 27 years. They have been instrumental in helping deploy over 60,000 alternative fuel vehicles in the state, worked with hundreds of infrastructure fueling projects, supported the completion of alternative fuel corridors, helped transform the school busing program diesel and consulted with hundreds of fleets to move away from heavy emitting fossil fuels.
The project launch of Drive Electric USA is a DOE VTO project that is built upon seven key principles that will guide the project and its partners.
- Create and strengthen branded, statewide “Drive Electric” programs in each state, and build capacity into those programs through funded time;
- Educate consumers by developing multiple, local EV “chapters” in all states;
- Directly engage and educate all utilities and regulators;
- Advance infrastructure in all states via statewide corridor, regional and community EVSE planning, including a focus on limited-income communities;
- Educate state and local government officials about EV policy best practices;
- Engage dealerships & OEMS to develop state-based, preferred EV dealer programs including light-duty and medium/heavy-duty OEMs;
- Significantly increase fleet EV adoption across many types of fleets and sizes of vehicles.
Development of the full-fledged statewide “Drive Electric” programs and in-state working groups/committees and actions; engagement of EV drivers, utilities, fleets, government officials, dealerships and state DOTs (as relates to corridor planning and development); and build-out of the “Replication Playbook” are the key elements in the project.
Utah’s consistent investment in developing electric corridors and workplace charging along with our state leadership and federal partnerships with the Department of Energy Vehicles Technologies Office has given the Beehive state a big boost in achieving zero-emission smart mobility, clean fleet deployment and range confidence.
“In Utah, we have paved the way for our own future successes with electric vehicles in both rural and urban sites. We are truly Powered Up and ready for the long range experience with EV’s across our state and extending the electric connection with our neighboring states,” stated Emily Paskett, Senior Project Manager for UCC’s CORWest and EV Infrastructure lead for the full Drive Electric USA project.
With the leadership of many Urban cities like our Capital City, Salt Lake City, Sandy City, and the Salt Lake County Environmental Department in Murray City, many of our citizens and public workers can drive emission free. Combined with progressive leadership like that found with large companies like Packsize and Leaders for Clean Air and smaller companies like Cactus and Tropical, Utah’s leadership is Powered Up for a new world of smart mobility
“Drive Electric USA will create a platform for key states with Clean Cities programs across the nation to grow from various stages of EV Readiness. The project emphasizes strong collaboration between Clean Cities organizations along with their local government, municipalities, industry & technology leaders, workplaces, dealerships and essential energy providers.” added Bostick in a final comment.
Utah Clean Cities, UCC, is excited to be a part of such an innovative project. It gives UCC an added opportunity to engage with its local community and national partners. This will be one of the first projects to produce consistent EV information across clean cities coalitions and with 14 different coalitions being involved in this program it will reach a substantial amount of stakeholders across the nation.
The Drive Electric USA project will last three years from October 2020 until December 2023.The total project cost is over $3.6 million and has a 50% cost share to go with the $1.8 million in federal funds being received. Utah Department of Transportation has been a key partner in this project with Utah Clean Cities. Their generosity with a 50% cost share match has allowed Utah Clean Cities to be involved with this project.
Further information on this project can be found on the Drive Electric USA website. Additionally, for more information about Utah’s statewide Drive Electric program visit the Drive Electric Utah website.
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Press Opportunities: If you are interested in further information about the project or are looking to schedule an interview please contact: tammie.paskett@utahcleancities.org
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About Utah Clean Cities
Web: utahcleancities.org
The mission of the Utah Clean Cities Coalition is to advance the energy, economic, and environmental security of the United States by supporting local decisions to adopt practices that reduce the use of petroleum in the transportation sector. Working closely with the Department of Energy’s Clean Cities programs, federal and state government, as well as our local stakeholders, we leverage our resources to bring funding into Utah to support the development and deployment of advanced fuel infrastructure and vehicles with an emphasis on renewable energies and technologies. We are committed to expanding transportation modeling by offering consultation services to access proven, state-of-the-art technological vehicles and equipment with proven return on investment for smart mobility fleets. We are here to support actionable steps to meet the challenges of our carbon-constrained world, to meet state and federal mandates, and implement sound business practices to tackle the serious nonattainment conditions in our state.
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