Electric Vehicle Efforts Receive National Attention

PHOENIX – Efforts to bring electric vehicle infrastructure to the Valley received a national boost last night as the White House recognized a Phoenix firm for its environmental entrepreneurship.

Don Karner, president and CEO of eTec (Electric Transportation Engineering Corporation) was invited by the White House to sit with first lady Michelle Obama during the State of the Union address. The Obama administration chose Karner as an example of an entrepreneur who created jobs and got a boost from last year’s passage of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). During his speech, President Obama said the Recovery Act has made tax cuts and jobs possible.

“Economists on the left and the right say that this bill has helped save jobs and avert disaster. But you don’t have to take their word for it. Talk to the small business in Phoenix that will triple its work force because of the Recovery Act,” said Obama, referring to eTec.

The presidential recognition brings welcome attention to regional efforts to facilitate the introduction of electric vehicles and electric vehicle charging infrastructure in the region. In April 2009, the Maricopa Association of Governments (MAG) entered into a Memorandum of Understanding with ECOtality and Nissan North America to help make the Valley one of the first “plug-in ready” areas of the country. ECOtality is the parent company of eTec.

“Our region has been at the forefront in cultivating an environment that is friendly to electric vehicles,” said MAG Chair Peggy Neely, a Phoenix councilwoman. “It is rewarding to see a local firm selected as an example of success not only for these environmental efforts, but for creating jobs in the process of addressing environmental concerns and reducing gas emissions,” she said.

In August, eTec, a subsidiary of ECOtality, was selected by the U.S. Department of Energy for a grant of nearly $100 million to implement the largest deployment of electric vehicles and charge infrastructure in history. The funding launched “The EV Project,” which aims to deploy up to 4,700 zero-emission electric vehicles in five states, including Arizona. After the initial fleet is deployed, the project will take lessons from their introduction to support the deployment of the next five million electric vehicles in the U.S.

The private companies put in more than $100 million of their own money to create a public-private partnership aimed at figuring out the best places to install charging stations in convenient locations, where owners of electric vehicles can plug in their cars and refuel. The proposed infrastructure will utilize 220-volt charging stations at residential and commercial locations, as well as 440-volt fast-charge stations that could be strategically located to allow vehicles to fully charge in less than 26 minutes.  In Arizona, it is envisioned that fast-charge stations will be strategically placed along the Interstate 10 connecting the Phoenix and Tucson regions, creating the first true implementation of an “EV Corridor” in North America.

Source: Maricopa Association of Governments

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