FW: Smart Columbus Hosts Electric Vehicle (EV) Charging Station Expo
Nivins, Jr., Isom
From: Crabill, Melanie J.
Sent: Thursday, April 13, 2017 11:09 AM
To: Crabill, Melanie J.
Subject: Smart Columbus Hosts Electric Vehicle (EV) Charging Station Expo
For Immediate Release
April 13, 2017
Contact
Brandi Braun, Assistant Director
Smart Columbus Hosts Electric Vehicle (EV) Charging Station Expo
In order to advance the electrification goals of the Smart City Grant, the Smart Columbus Team will host an Electric Vehicle Charging Station Expo on April 24, 2017 from 8:30 – 4:00 at 1881 E. 25th Ave., in the Linden neighborhood of Columbus.
The expo will connect electric vehicle charging companies and industry leaders with organizations, developers, companies and governments that are interested in learning more about electric vehicle infrastructure and relevant policies and procedures.
The expo is an initiative of the $10 million Paul G. Allen’s Vulcan Inc. grant awarded to the City as part of the Smart City Challenge.
“The EV Vendor Expo will be a great opportunity to learn about the vision of Smart Columbus as it relates to encouraging electric vehicle adoption and building an environmentally sustainable transportation system. It will also be a great opportunity to learn what it takes to offer EV charging stations at public and private sites over the next three years, and beyond,” said Michael Stevens, Chief Innovation Officer for the City of Columbus.
A primary goal of the Smart Columbus initiative is to drastically reduce greenhouse gas emissions in our 7-county region and a major way to reach this goal is by creating a more environmentally-sustainable transportation system, which includes increasing the use of electric vehicles and charging infrastructure. Charging stations will be needed at multi – unit dwellings, workplaces, parking garages and popular destinations.
“Providing good electric vehicle charging infrastructure throughout the region is fundamental to our goal of Columbus becoming a leader in electric vehicle adoption. Every organization, company and person in the City has a role to play in making Columbus a Smart City.” said Mark Patton, Vice President of Smart Cities at The Columbus Partnership.
During the expo, participants will have an opportunity to meet face-to-face with national EV equipment and solutions vendors to discuss their services and product offerings. The morning sessions will introduce the Smart Columbus EV vision, an overview of EV industry trends, site engineering considerations, permitting and policy insights, rebate programs and a public charging siting study summary. The afternoon session will give the participants an opportunity to hear from a panel of peers with experience planning and installing EV charging at their facilities.
To register for this free event visit, https://smartcolumbusevchargingexpo.eventbrite.com.
About Smart Columbus
The City of Columbus Smart Columbus plan won the U.S. Department of Transportation (U.S. DOT) $40 million Smart City Challenge in June 2016 after competing against 77 cities nationwide to become the country’s first city to fully integrate innovative technologies
– self-driving cars, connected vehicles, and smart sensors – into its transportation network. Columbus was also awarded an additional $10 million grant from Paul G. Allen’s Vulcan Inc. to accelerate the transition to an electrified, low-emissions transportation
system. Local businesses and organizations have also committed about $90 million in matching dollars, including $19 million in public money to support technology and infrastructure investments to upgrade Columbus' transportation network through the Smart Columbus
initiative. Smart Columbus includes partnerships with The Ohio State University, Battelle, American Electric Power, Honda, IBM and many more.
For more information visit the Smart Columbus https://www.columbus.gov/smartcolumbus/.
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