11 Northeast states team up to create an electric vehicle charging network
California may be leading the charge in the electric car movement right now, but the northeast is attempting to catch up. Officials from different transportation, energy and environmental departments from 10 northeast states and the District of Columbia are teaming up to create the Northeast Electric Vehicle Network.
The network will aim to bring in public and private investments in electric vehicle infrastructure as a way to reduce the region's dependence on oil. Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington, DC will work together on the effort.
A $994,500 grant from the Department of Energy will guide and bolster the plans to deploy hundreds of charging stations and related infrastructure throughout the Northeast.
The hope is that eventually the private-public partnerships will lead to an increase in the use of EVs by businesses and residents alike. Currently, the northeast only has about 6 percent of the U.S. EV fleet.
Taking some initiative, New York has added 50 new Chevrolet Volts to its fleet for use by city agencies.
President Obama has called for one million plug-in vehicles to hit our streets by 2015, the Northeast Electric Vehicle Network's goal is to contribute towards 20 percent of that number or 200,000 electric vehicles, according to Environment News Service.
This post was originally published on Smartplanet.com