American Recovery Reinvestment Act

The Transportation Electrification Initiative received four hundred million dollars under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The purpose of these funds is for companies to develop, deploy, and analyze electric vehicle infrastructure, and to educate the public about them to speed their acceptance into the mainstream. There are eight different projects that have received a portion of the four hundred million dollars. The eight projects are expected to provide over 13,000 grid connected vehicles, and more than 22,000 charging points in commercial, public, and residential locations by the end of 2013. President Obama has set the goal of having one million electric vehicles on the road by the year 2015.

One of the eight projects under the Transportation Electrification Initiative is the Coulomb project. Coulomb is providing $22.9 million dollars of the projected $37.9 million dollar project. The Coulomb project plans to release 2,000 Chevy Volts, 200 Ford Transit Connect, 100 Ford Focus EV, and 100 Smart EV vehicles for a total of 2,400 new electric vehicles (EV) on the road. They also plan to establish 4,600 charging stations across the United States.

ECOtality is another company participating in the Transportation Electrification Initiative. They have just completed the installation of 1,000 level 2 electric chargers. This program paid for in part by a grant from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act for $114.8 million dollars has been matched dollar for dollar by private investors for a total of approximately $230 million dollars. The ECOtality program will be responsible for the installation of 14,000 charging stations in residential and commercial areas in 18 major cities and metropolitan areas in six states. This will support the deployment of about 8,300 electric vehicles.

Recently the Department of Energy announced the availability of $5 million dollars in grants that are available to private companies and local governments interested in the installation of electric charging stations to further develop the electric vehicle infrastructure. In the near future the cost of the electric vehicle is expected to fall to around $20,000 to $25,000 making it more accessible to the United States consumer. As more of these vehicles hit the roads charging stations will need to be readily accessible, however, you can have a level 2 charger installed in your residence for around $1,000.

The Transportation Electrification Initiative seems to be doing what it was designed for by creating jobs for Americans, and providing alternative forms of energy for transportation to reduce our oil dependence. Given a little time there will be more and more of these electric vehicles and their charging stations across the United States. The electric vehicles and the infrastructure that sustains them are providing many new opportunities for both the American worker and for the companies that employ them.