Oregon electric vehicle fleet is getting a boost with the expansion of electric vehicle charging stations. The northwestern metropolitan areas of Portland, Salem, Corvallis and Eugene are playing host to what is deemed the “largest rollout of EV infrastructure in the world” and will include more than a thousand publicly available chargers.
“Oregon is ready to emerge as a pioneer in electric vehicle adoption,” said Jonathan Read, president and CEO of ECOtality, the company in charge of the installation of the stations it calls Blink. “The support of our advisory group has provided invaluable research, and allowed us to develop a smart plan for the installation of EV infrastructure that suits the needs of Oregon’s future EV drivers. By coupling our plans with the capabilities of Blink, we are creating the rich charge infrastructure needed to make electric vehicles a reality.”
A partnership between the company’s Oregon Advisory Team and area stakeholders helped the company to complete deployment guidelines and develop maps showing potential charging site locations and density. The criteria took into account transportation routes, employment centers and zoning.
The Oregon stations are part of the EV Project, which will cost $230 million and will be funded with a $114.8 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (Recovery Act). The remaining of the funding will come from the private sector.
The EV Project includes 16 cities and major metropolitan areas in six states, and will result in the installation of over 15,000 charging stations, over the course of three years.
“The four Oregon cities were selected as host sites for The EV Project in 2009, and will play a critical role in developing a rich charging infrastructure for EV drivers” said Oregon Governor Ted Kulongoski.
Article by Antonio Pasolini, a Brazilian writer and video art curator based in London, UK. He holds a BA in journalism and an MA in film and television.
