"Where Are We Going to Charge Our Cars?"

Planetizen provided the following teaser for a Wall Street Journal story Where Are We Going To Charge Our Cars? I found the question interesting. Twelve years ago I left the Metropolitan Area Planning Council. At that time I had been working for several years through the Clean Cities Program to promote the development of electric vehicle facilities. The MBTA has located EV charging facilities in Braintree and Alewife Stations. These facilities were powered with solar panels.

The program was to be a model for all to follow. Boston Edison, one of the participants, and the MAPC were promoting the concept of electric vehicle recharging facilities at major employment centers and shopping centers. Opportunity recharge was a big part of preparing the Boston Region for the introduction of EV's. In addition, Boston Edison was working to promote paddle type electric vehicle chargers, known as fast chargers, at gasoline stations. The fast charge was intended to provide a five minute or less charge, in line with normal gasoline refilling. Unfortunately, the state backed off of the ZEV requirements (pushed by EPA I believe), if not, we would not be asking this basic question today.

I know after I left MAPC, the agency lost interest in the Clean Cities Program and the Electric Vehicle Pilot Program. The project was picked up by DOER and has moved forward cautiously ever since. The new push for EV's may be just what the Clean Cities Program needs to gain momentum once again.

In Massachusetts, the model is there for EV recharging. Just dust off the Electric Vehicle Pilot Program from the early and mid 1990's that was spearheaded by MAPC and DOER.