The governors of seven western states in the USA have signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to provide a framework for creating a regional electric vehicle plan to realize the economic and environmental benefits of a coordinated ‘electrified’ infrastructure.
The governors of Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming have signed the MOU to create the Regional Electric Vehicle Plan for the West (REV West Plan), which aims to create a recharging corridor in the region.
The plan, which was announced at the Energy Innovation Summit hosted by the National Governors Association in Salt Lake City earlier this month, intends to create a network that will make it possible to seamlessly drive an EV across the states’ major transportation routes.
The plan spans more than 5,000 miles (8,000km) of highway across east-west Interstates 10, 40, 70, 76, 80, 84, 86, 90 and 94, and north-south Interstates 15 and 25. With more than 20,000 EVs and plug-in hybrids (PHEVs) already on the roads in the western states, the electrification of these major corridors is expected to reduce range anxiety and drive further adoption of EVs, while transforming the market to allow smaller communities to plug into the regional system.
The MOU calls for a coordination group to undertake the following actions:
• Create best practices and procedures that will enhance EV adoption by promoting consumer acceptance and awareness by addressing ‘range anxiety’;
• Coordinate on EV charging station locations to avoid redundancy and to ensure stations are sited at a frequency and locations to optimize usage and to minimize inconsistencies between charging infrastructure in each state;
• Leverage economies of scale;
• Create voluntary minimum standards for EV charging stations, including standards for administration, interoperability, operations and management;
• Identify and develop opportunities to incorporate EV charging station infrastructure into planning and development processes, such as building codes, metering policies, and renewable energy generation projects;
• Encourage manufacturers to stock and market a wide variety of EVs within the states;
• Identify, respond to, and where possible collaborate on funding opportunities to support the development of the REV West Corridor.
“This framework is another example of the innovation and bipartisan collaboration happening around energy here in the West,” said Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper.
“Through this collaboration, we will drive economic growth and promote our outdoor recreation opportunities across our states. Our residents and the millions of visitors to our states will be able to drive electric vehicles from Denver to Las Vegas, from Santa Fe to Helena.”
