Massachusetts and seven other state partners yesterday released a plan to put 3.3 million zero-emission vehicles (ZEVs) on the road by 2025.
The Multi-State ZEV Action Plan is the first promised milestone for the bi-coastal, eight-state collaboration to pave the way for increasing the number of clean cars on the roads. The partner states are California, Connecticut, Maryland, Massachusetts, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island and Vermont. Together they comprise about a quarter of the nation’s new car sales.
"Today’s plan builds on Massachusetts’ nation-leading efforts to use renewable energy technology to reduce carbon emissions," Gov. Deval Patrick said in a statement. "By promoting the use of plug-in vehicles through the commonwealth’s electric vehicle initiative and an array of consumer and fleet incentives, we are able to give motorists choices in the vehicles they drive and cleaner, less expensive fuel to power them."
Among the programs implemented in Massachusetts to support ZEVs are:
• The Massachusetts Electric Vehicle Initiative (MEVI), co-chaired by the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs and the Department of Energy Resources (DOER), which was launched in 2013 with the goal of increasing electric vehicle use in the Commonwealth. A key early action of MEVI is the Massachusetts Offers Rebates for Electric Vehicle program, which will provide consumer rebates of up to $2,500 for purchase or lease of a plug-in hybrid or electric vehicle registered in the state.
• The Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection administers the Massachusetts Electric Vehicle Incentive Program (MassEVIP) and has provided incentive grants to enable the purchase of 65 battery-electric vehicles, 50 plug-in hybrid vehicles and 30 Level 2 dual-headed charging stations. A third round of funding will be available later this year.
• Under the DOER’s Clean Vehicle Grant Program, funding is in place for approximately 15 DC Fast Charging Stations that will be strategically placed in travel corridors to advance long distance electric vehicle travel.
The governors of the eight states began the collaboration with the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on Oct. 24, 2013. The ultimate goal is to reduce greenhouse gas and smog-causing emissions by transforming the transportation sector over the next 11 years.
The plan consists of 11 key actions to be taken by all the partners, and steps to take to successfully complete those actions. The actions cover three main areas: building the market for ZEVs; providing consistent codes, standards and tracking for said market; and improving the experience of purchasing and creating ZEVs for manufacturers and consumers.
ZEVs include plug-in hybrids, battery electric and hydrogen-powered fuel cell electric vehicles. To date, manufacturers have rolled out more than two dozen models in these categories and they have developed a solid foothold in the automobile market. As of April 2014, there are nearly 200,000 nationwide.
