Wednesday, May 11, 2011

Is Your City Ready for Electric Vehicles?

Be prepared: It’s the motto of the Boy Scouts, but it seems fairly apropos for metropolitan areas when it comes to accommodating the volume of new electric vehicles on the horizon. And that is exactly why Ford is working with cities around the country to identify ways to prepare for the plug-in vehicles, such as the Focus Electric later this year.

“As more and more electric vehicles come to market, it’s incredibly important that cities develop action plans, including infrastructure development and permitting solutions, to ensure these vehicles are a viable solution for citizens,” said Mike Tinskey, the Ford Manager of Vehicle Electrification and Infrastructure.

While the existing electric grid has plenty of capacity to support electric vehicles, the key for local utilities will be to offer incentives so customers will charge at night or off-peak times to minimize demand on the grid. There also will need to be an urban planning approach to optimize public/commercial electric vehicle charge locations, meaning they would be used often and be an efficient use of investment dollars. Ford has been encouraged by specialized approaches some cities are taking to support electric vehicles. For example, Boston, New York City and Philadelphia are looking into opportunities to promote travel between the cities by electric vehicle. Additionally, each city is hiring an electric vehicle policy coordinator to help improve efficiency of the permitting processes.

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