(Photo by Patrick Boury on Flickr)
The Bay Area may soon be called the “Electrical Vehicle Capital of the USA” if Gavin Newsom, Chuck Reed and Ron Dellum have their way. The mayors of San Francisco, San Jose and Oakland, respectively, met recently to create a nine-point plan to achieve this goal in the next decade. A concurrent announcement by Better Place that it would enter its first U.S. market in the Bay Area shows that electric vehicles by the thousands may hit American streets sooner rather than later.
The trio’s plan starts with changes to the permitting process to allow public and private property owners to install EV outlets. The plan would also add financial incentives like tax credits for businesses who add EV outlets for public use. Once an EV-friendly system is in place in the Bay Area, local and county governments would coordinate purchases to take advantage of fleet discounts. These discounts would be extended to area companies that take advantage of EV plug-in credits.
Mayors Newsom, Reed and Dellum were also able to figure out broad brushstrokes for regulatory reform in the region. Under the EV infrastructure plan, government agencies would review existing regulations and develop policies that allow drivers to recharge in different cities. The network of EV outlets would need to be integrated with regional transit systems and meet state environmental protection standards during operation.
The legitimacy of this nine-point plan was strengthened with the presence of Governor Schwarzenegger advisor David Crane at the summit. The three mayors also have the backing of the Association of Bay Area Governments and the Silicon Valley Leadership Group. As Gavin Newsom has become a divisive figure due to his support for gay marriages, this outside assistance is necessary to add legitimacy to plan’s goals.
The presence of Mayors Reed and Dellum show that constituencies in neighboring cities are ready for a new type of transportation. If the $1 billion investment by Better Place comes to fruition, we could see the first practical EV network in North America. My hope is that the still-uncertain timetable of this plan can be accelerated to head off traditional transportation boondoggles as the region’s population increases. We don’t need more four-lane highways to encourage SUVs and sedans hitting the road; we need an EV foothold to encourage further development outside of northern California.
