A coalition of blue chip companies has formed the
Electrification Leadership Council to design
a large-scale electric vehicle (EV) demonstration project that will help create a comprehensive national model for EV deployment.
Among its members are FedEx Express, Hertz, Navistar, Azure Dynamics, A123 Systems, CODA Automotive, Pacific Gas and Electric Company, ECOtality, Automatiks, and GE Capital.
The Electrification Leadership Council (ELC) is a coalition of key stakeholders throughout the EV supply chain – in transportation and utility industries – who have the expertise and resources required to engage federal, state, regional and local agencies and coalitions, utility companies, vehicle manufacturers and financial institutions to help overcome the barriers to broad scale EV deployment.
For the demonstration project, the coalition is planning a large-scale deployment of EVs within densely populated local markets where all the components of an EV Ecosystem can be brought together: EV deployment, charging stations, the electrical grid, energy storage devices and battery second-life applications, communication systems and support networks.
"This is about developing a more efficient, effective and environmentally friendly EV Ecosystem," says Dennis Beal , vice president of Global Vehicles for FedEx Express. "We work with many companies across the EV Ecosystem, have learned a lot and are hungry to share our learning, expand collaboration and further the future of transportation electrification with this large-scale, cross-industry project. It is the responsible thing to do across the board – environmentally, economically and for our national security as we reduce our dependence on foreign oil and move towards environmentally friendly technologies."
The ELC will engage with communities that have already developed collaborative efforts to foster EV readiness related to:
- Infrastructure Planning
- Regulatory Alignment
- Public Awareness
The ELC will help these communities close their EV readiness gaps at the grassroots level by addressing barriers to EV deployment that typically include:
- Charging Infrastructure
- Government and Regulatory Policy
- Vehicle Availability and Demand
- Cost of Ownership and Vehicle Support
- Public Awareness and Acceptance
The ELC is evaluating a number of local markets for the demonstration projects and will announce sites once plans are in place.
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