Uncommon Alliance to Accelerate Plug-in Cars in California

A new plan outlines steps to be ready for up to 1 million plug-in hybrid and battery-powered cars by 2020. The report was unveiled at Universal Studios Hollywood where Back to the Future’s electric car was first introduced 25 years ago.

The new plan, “Taking Charge: Establishing California Leadership in the Plug-In Electric Vehicle Marketplace,” was developed by an uncommon alliance and offers 30 suggested actions to build a successful electrified transportation system in California.

Key recommendations from the plan include:

■Simplify the process to get home charging stations installed quickly
■Develop solutions to enable charging at apartments and condos
■Structure electricity prices to encourage off-peak charging
■Increase consumer demand through education and awareness programs
■Develop new service industries to make charging a car easier than fueling at a gas station
■Encourage tech-based solutions (e.g. smart phone apps) to help drivers find existing public charging stations
■Ensure local governments help establish the strategic placement of a public charging network
■A full list can be found at www.pevcollaborative.org/strategic-pla
“We aim to address all the questions. It must be simple, simple, simple for consumers to choose plug-in electric vehicles,” added Wittenberg.

This plan will serve as a roadmap for developing a specific course of action. The Collaborative will support ongoing work and start up new efforts to address the 10 major recommendations in the report. The California Plug-In Electric Vehicle Collaborative endorses a systematic, customer-focused approach to creatively overcome challenges in this new California marketplace where consumers enthusiastically adopt clean, cutting-edge technologies. Go to www.pevcollaborative.org for more information.

Members include:

Diane Wittenberg, California Plug-In Electric Vehicle Collaborative; Robert Babik, General Motors; Aram Benyamin, Los Angeles Department of Water and Power; Janice Berman, Pacific Gas and Electric Company; James Boyd, California Energy Commission; Elisabeth Brinton, Sacramento Municipal Utility District; Catherine Dunwoody, California Fuel Cell Partnership; Mark Duvall, Electric Power Research Institute; Anthony Eggert, California Energy Commission; Bonnie Holmes-Gen, American Lung Association in California ; Nancy Gioia, Ford Motor Company; Roland Hwang, Natural Resources Defense Council; Enid Joffe, Clean Fuel Connection, Inc.; Don Karner, ECOtality; Christine Kehoe, California State Senate; Doug Kim, Southern California Edison; Andreas Klugescheid, BMW Group; Barbara Lee, Northern Sonoma County Air Pollution Control District; Alan Lloyd, International Council on Clean Transportation; Bonnie Lowenthal, California State Assembly; Richard Lowenthal, Coulomb Technologies; Patricia Monahan, Union of Concerned Scientists; Mary Nichols, California Air Resources Board; Diarmuid O’Connell, Tesla Motors, Inc.; Alex Padilla, California State Senate; Dan Pellissier, Office of Governor Schwarzenegger; Nancy Ryan, California Public Utilities Commission; Nancy Skinner, California State Assembly; Dan Skopec, San Diego Gas and Electric; Daniel Sperling, Institute of Transportation Studies, UC Davis; Eileen Tutt, California Electric Transportation Coalition; V. John White, Center for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Technologies; Jason Wolf, Better Place; Tracy Woodard, Nissan North America, Inc.; Toshio Yoshidome, Toyota Motor Engineering and Manufacturing North America.