Last Saturday, July 13, the Clean Transportation team at NC Clean Energy Technology Center teamed up with Plug-in NC to display several electric and hybrid vehicles before the Durham Bulls baseball game at the Durham Bulls Athletic Park! Guests had a chance to check out the vehicles themselves and talk to the team to learn more.
Listen to our radio interview below!
Join us for an Alternative Fuel Vehicle Tailgate before the Durham Bulls baseball game on Saturday, July 13 from 5:30-6:35 p.m. outside of the Durham Bulls Athletic Park stadium! Check out a lineup of alternative fuel vehicles, which may include electric, hybrid/plug-in hybrid electric, propane, natural gas, biodiesel or ethanol.
Join us for two new, free webinars previewing some of the technologies and speakers that will be featured at the Sustainable Fleet Technology Conference in Durham, NC, August 7-8 with pre-conference events August 6.
The preview webinars will be June 27 and July 11, both from 2 to 3:30 p.m.
The Sustainable Fleet Technology Conference provides an opportunity for fleet managers and transportation professionals to experience the latest vehicle technology, tools and resources designed to increase efficiency and reduce emissions. The event will include keynote presentations, 50+ speakers, breakout sessions, exhibit booths, indoor vehicle/equipment display, and networking.
Conference session topics include Electric Vehicles; Natural Gas; Propane; Biofuel Solutions; Electrification and the Grid; Telematics; Procurement Solutions; Infrastructure and Intelligent Solutions; Heavy Duty Vehicle Efficiency; Rural Fleet Operations; Idle Reduction; and Recruiting, Retention & Career Development. View the full agenda here.
Each webinar will feature different conference topics and speakers, who will give you a preview of what they’ll cover at the event.
Register for the June 27 webinar here, and the July 11 webinar here.
Are you interested in installing new Electric Vehicle Supply Equipment (EVSE) (electric vehicle charging stations) in your North Carolina community? There are three possible sources of funding to make it happen.
EVSE; an element in an infrastructure that supplies electric energy for recharging of plug-in electric vehicles including electric cars, neighborhood electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids; is deployed throughout the country in key areas for public charging as a supplement to residential charging, according to the US Department of Energy Alternative Fuels Data Center.
There are three types of electric vehicle chargers – Level 1, Level 2 and DC Fast Charging. Types are classified by the rate at which the batteries are charged. Level 1 provides 2-5 miles of range per 1 hour of charging, Level 2 provides 10-20 miles of range per 1 hour of charging, and DC Fast Charging provides 60-80 miles of range per 20 minutes of charging. Learn more about each type of equipment and developing infrastructure to charge plug-in electric vehicles at the US Department of Energy Alternative Fuels Data Center website here. You can also view the current map of EV chargers in the United States and Canada here.
There are three potential sources of funds to support installation of EVSE in North Carolina:
1. The VW Settlement gives North Carolina $92 million dollars for projects to reduce vehicular air pollution. These funds will be administered by NC DEQ as a part of their beneficiary mitigation plan. Fifteen percent of these funds will be allotted for EVSE (both Level 2 and DC Fast Chargers).
The NCDEQ just released a Request For Proposals (RFP) for VW settlement funds for DC Fast chargers this week. Under the DC Fast Charge program:
• $3.4 million will be available for the installation of Zero Emission Vehicle (ZEV) Charging Infrastructure
• Projects in designated corridors will receive priority to expand the state’s charging infrastructure network
• Projects can be submitted by eligible businesses, incorporated nonprofits, and state, local, tribal or municipal government agencies
Applications will be available on July 1, 2019, and the submission deadline is September 30, 2019. The Zero Emission Vehicle (ZEV) Level 2 Charging program RFP will be released at a later date. Read more about the NCDEQ RFPs here.
2. The NC Clean Energy Technology Center’s Clean Transportation team also has limited grant funding for EVSE. The next Clean Fuels Advanced Technology (CFAT) project RFP will be released in the fall or winter of 2019. Funding will be restricted to projects where there is no ground disturbance involved (such as in a parking deck or where wires and conduit are already in place) – and no digging, trenching, pavement cutting, repaving, etc. is allowed. Take a look at the last round of funding for insights on what the next round may look like, and join the newsletter list to know when the next RFP will be issued by going here. For more information on CFAT funding, contact John Bonitz at jhbonitz@ncsu.edu.
3. Duke Energy plans to invest $76 million to help spur EV adoption across the state, according to Duke Energy. Duke Energy’s proposal to the NC Utilities Commission would help fund the adoption of electric school buses and electric public transportation, and lead to almost 2,500 new charging stations in the state – more than doubling the amount of public stations currently in North Carolina, according to Duke Energy. The initiative is to help meet Gov. Roy Cooper’s executive order goals of having 80,000 electric vehicles registered in the state and to reduce the state’s carbon footprint by 40 percent below 2005 levels within the next six years. Duke Energy’s plan includes:
• Residential EV Charging: This program will provide a $1,000 rebate for qualifying Level II charging stations for up to 800 residential customers. Level II charging allows customers to charge their EVs up to six times faster than a standard wall outlet.
• Public Charging: Duke Energy will install and operate more than 800 public charging stations across North Carolina, including DC Fast Charging, Public Level II and multifamily locations, which will expand the state’s network of EV charging stations.
• Fleet EV Charging: The program will provide a $2,500 rebate for 900 qualifying charging stations for commercial and industrial customers who operate fleets that are transitioning to electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles. Municipalities and universities also qualify for these rebates.
• EV School Bus Charging Station: Duke Energy will provide financial support to eligible customers to procure up to 85 electric school buses. Duke Energy will install the associated charging infrastructure.
• EV Transit Bus Charging Station: Duke Energy will install and operate more than 100 electric transit bus charging stations for eligible transit agencies electing to procure electric buses. Electric transit buses eliminate diesel emissions and reduce fuel and maintenance costs for transit agencies.”
Source: Duke Energy
Source of electricity is taken into consideration in scoring CFAT grant proposals, with renewable-sourced energy scoring higher. The NC DEQ VW Settlement program will give up to 10 bonus points when RECs are purchased to offset grid electricity purchases. The Duke Energy program is still in early stages of proposal and development, and it is not yet clear what their criteria will be.
For any questions on Duke Energy’s EVSE initiatives, contact Lisa Poger at Lisa.Poger@duke-energy.com.
The winners of the second annual “Keep Our Air Clean” Student Art Contest have been officially announced! Artwork will appear on billboards around North Carolina.
Elementary School Winner
Middle School Winner
High School Winner
College Winner
Thank you to all who participated!
On June 12 from 2 to 3:30 p.m., join the NC Clean Energy Technology Center and The 100 Best Fleets of the Americas to learn about school bus electrification options of a re-power solution or a new OEM offering. There are many benefits to electrification, including reduced operating and maintenance costs, cleaner air and more.
In addition, with VW Settlement money becoming available across the country, learn how to obtain funds to electrify your school bus fleet. This information will allow you to impact the environment, the health of your school children and your budget. WIN! WIN! WIN! Space is limited – please register at your earliest convenience.
Register now here.
Track A: Trends in Advanced Fuels and Fueling
Electric Vehicles
Propane
Biofuel Solutions
Natural Gas
Track B: Integrated Fleet Technology Solutions
Infrastructure & Intelligent Solutions
Telematics
Electrification & the Grid
Fleet Operations: Idle Reduction & more
Track C: Fleet Efficiency & Sustainability
Heavy Duty Vehicle Efficiency
Procurement Solutions
Rural Fleet Operations
Recruiting, Retention & Career Development
Plenary Panels
Fleets & Advanced Mobility Solutions
Planning for an Advanced Transportation Future
Keynote Speakers
David Dunn; CFM; Fleet & Facilities Management Division Manager, City of Orlando
Mark Smith; Technology Integration Program Manager, U.S. Department of Energy, Vehicle Technologies Office
Stay tuned for more speakers to be announced soon!
The winners of the 2019 edition of the 100 Best Fleets were announced last month! See the winners here.
On May 29 from 2 to 3:30 p.m., hear what the top three fleets did to distinguish themselves among 38,000 public fleets in North America. Learn their best practices you can use immediately in your own operation. We only learn from the best. Also, learn about the emerging technologies they use to do-more-with-less.
This information is intended for the entire team to listen in.
Find out where you compare to the very best-of-the-best.
Register now here.
This exclusive one-time-only webinar has limited space. Please RSVP at your earliest convenience.
Note: The 2019 edition of the Green Fleet Awards will open for nominations in June. The winners will be announced on August 06, 2019 as a pre-conference event for the 2019 Sustainable Fleet Technology Conference & Expo in Durham, NC. See 100BestFleets.com and sustainablefleetexpo.com for details.
The polls are open for the “Keep Our Air Clean” Student Art Contest – vote now for your favorites!
Vote for your favorite art in each age category (kindergarten through college). Artwork should focus on actions that people can take to reduce air pollution from vehicles and help keep our air clean. Examples: walking, biking, using public transportation, using electric vehicles or biofuels, and more.
Winners in each category will be featured on billboards across the state!
The contest poll closes at midnight this Sunday, May 12.
Winners will be announced soon. Stay tuned on nccleantech.ncsu.edu and FuelWhatMatters.org. For more information or any questions, email Heather Brutz at hmbrutz@ncsu.edu.
Last week, members of the public attended four Zero Emission Vehicle (ZEV) Information & Input Sessions hosted by the NC Clean Energy Technology Center and the NC Department of Transportation (NCDOT) at four locations in North Carolina, to gain information and provide feedback on Gov. Roy Cooper’s Executive Order 80 and NCDOT’s ZEV plan.
Late last year, Governor Roy Cooper instructed state agencies to make plans to promote clean energy in Executive Order 80. As part of the effort, NCDOT is creating a statewide plan to promote the use of clean transportation technologies and is looking for input from the public.
Gov. Cooper’s Executive Order 80 plan is to increase the number of registered, zero-emission vehicles (ZEVs) to at least 80,000 by 2025. ZEVs, or vehicles that emit no exhaust gas from the onboard source of power, include battery electric vehicles and hydrogen fuel cell vehicles. According to EO80, the ZEV Plan should help establish interstate and intrastate ZEV corridors, coordinate and increase the installation of ZEV infrastructure, and incorporate additional best practices for increasing ZEV adoption when appropriate – by October 1, 2019. NCDOT’s Zero-Emission Vehicle Plan is designed to achieve the ZEV target and address those topics of ZEV corridors and ZEV infrastructure.
“Executive Order 80 represents a chance for North Carolina to really move forward in regards to the adoption of zero emission vehicles,” said Heather Brutz, Finance & Operations Manager of the Clean Transportation Program at NCCETC. “Right now – while these plans are still being written – is the best time for the public to weigh in with any ideas they might have on how they would like to see plans move forward.”
Speakers present at the ZEV sessions were Jeremy Tarr, Policy Advisor for the Governor’s Office; Heather Hildebrandt with NCDOT, and members from NCCETC’s planning partners, including the Land of Sky Clean Vehicles Coalition, Centralina Clean Fuels Coalition, and the Triangle Clean Cities Coalition.
Tarr laid out details of Governor’s EO80 plan, expressing why it is so important to accomplish – pointing to North Carolina’s recent hurricanes and floods.
“We have to think ahead and prevent this kind of devastation in the future,” Tarr said. “We should be rebuilding in a way that’s going to be resilient.”
Hildebrandt presented a map of North Carolina showing FHWA Designated EV Recharging Corridors – showing locations where signage is ready, pending and not ready.
She also presented a map of North Carolina’s Priority Corridors, showing travel patterns in the state.
To learn more about NCDOT’s clean energy and climate change work, visit the website here. You can provide feedback to NCDOT by completing an EV adoption survey here. The survey includes a map feature where you can drop pins in locations you’d like to see EV chargers.
More than 16 states have completed or initiated ZEV and EV planning activities in 2018, from Colorado to Hawaii to Rhode Island, said Allison Carr, Clean Transportation Specialist at NCCETC.
Some states are updating plans more than 5 years old, and others are responding to new statewide goals (related to energy, GHGs, or transportation). The common themes among the states seem to be ZEV availability for consumers and automaker (OEM) and dealer collaborations; planning for education and awareness; need for consistent, supportive and innovative policies for state, city level and public utilities; and buildout and planning for charging infrastructure. New and emerging themes have included ZEV planning that builds on existing EV planning activities or related to statewide energy goals; mobility services as part of ZEV planning, such as exploring and establishing connections with transportation network companies (TNC) like Uber and Lyft; consideration of extreme weather and resiliency; and future planning for inclusion of medium- and heavy-duty vehicles and charging infrastructure.
Take a look to see what other states are doing in Carr’s Powerpoint presentation here.
After the expert presentations, guests branched out into groups to discuss their thoughts and ideas on alternative fuel corridors, barriers to adoption of EVs, best practices to promote adoption, and prioritizing funding for ZEVs and infrastructure. Questions included: How should public funding of EV charging infrastructure be prioritized (both Level 2 and DC fast chargers) in North Carolina? What are the top five barriers to ZEV adoption that should be addressed within the next two years? What areas do you think need a DC fast charger? Guests also viewed a map of current corridors in North Carolina and added dots to locations they’d like to see more EV chargers.
If you missed the ZEV sessions, you can still provide feedback. Go here to download and fill out our worksheets. You can email worksheets to Rick Sapienza at resapien@ncsu.edu.
Also, on Tuesday, April 23 from 2 to 3:30 p.m., tune in to a free NC ZEV Information & Input Webinar with NCCETC and NCDOT to cover the same subjects. Click here to register now.
“This is your opportunity to weigh in,” said John Bonitz, Clean Transportation Specialist at NCCETC. “Tell us where the charging stations need to be, give us your practical experience or practical concerns.”
“It’s important right now because there’s momentum in this conversation,” said Allison Carr, Transportation Specialist at NCCETC. “There’s support from the Governor, and there’s Volkswagen funding available that will contribute to funding designated for EVSE.”
To view Powerpoint presentations from the ZEV sessions, go here.
Keep up to date with the latest news from the Governor’s Office here, NCDOT’s plan here, and with NCCETC at nccleantech.ncsu.edu and FuelWhatMatters.org.
“For these strategies going forward to be lasting, we need everyone’s input,” Tarr said.