Mayor Adrian Fenty announced on Tuesday the installation of D.C.’s first electric car charging station. Located at the Franklin D. Reeves Center at 2000 14th Street, NW, the curbside station is part of yet another innovative pilot program, brought to you by the District Department of Transportation, and the first of 20 such stations planned for the District. DDOT partnered with Coulomb Technologies for funding through a $15 million grant as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act from the U.S. Department of Energy. ChargePoint America, sponsored by Coulomb Technologies, provides the stations and manages the network, which will number 500 in the District and its environs by October 2011.
DDOT Director Gabe Klein, the man behind the recent spate of D.C.’s sustainable transportation projects, was onsite at the unveiling. Enthusiastically commenting on the significance of this latest development, Klein stated, “This charger represents a new direction for fuel efficient vehicles throughout the region. We continue to ask people to reduce their carbon footprint and make greener choices and so we are striving to provide the infrastructure and technology to support those goals.”
Klein’s excitement is understandable given that his vision, and currently one of DDOT’s most important objectives, has been to build upon the District’s infrastructure to support greener transportation choices. With the recent introduction and expansion of several programs within mere months, Washingtonians are clearly enjoying an era of unprecedented strides in sustainable transportation options and the technology to support them. We’ve seen the launch of the hugely successful Capital Bikeshare program; expansion of the popular D.C. Circulator service, with new routes added based upon input solicited from the public; and the beginnings of the long-awaited D.C. streetcar, which will add 37 miles of an 8-line streetcar system and create 700 new jobs in the District by the spring of 2012.
The full rollout of the public curbside chargers will be completed by mid 2011. If you would like to see a charging station in a particular location where public space is available, please visit the ChargePointAmerica website for more information or to make a formal request. Information about how the stations work, as well as about long-term plans to expand the program, both regionally and nationally, is also available at www.chargepointamerica.com.
Do you own an electric-powered car? Will the new charging stations make you more likely to consider buying one? Tell us what you think!
By Anne Factor at goDCgo
