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Using Electric Vehicles to Create a Sustainable City of Berkeley

July 20, 2009 by 5 Comments
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Editor’s Note: This is Berkeley Mayor Tom Bates’ first post for Gas 2.0. Mayor Bates is the latest to join The Great Electric Vehicle Race.

Last month, our city council adopted Berkeley’s bold Climate Action Plan.  This plan calls for systemic action, by all Berkeley residents and agencies to reduce our city’s greenhouse gas (GHG) consumption by 80% below 2000 levels by the year 2050, and the investment in electric vehicle infrastructure will be a key method for achieving these larger goals.

In partnership with City CarShare and Berkeley-based 3Prong Power, we recently unveiled the nation’s first converted plug-in hybrid electric municipal fleet vehicle (PHEV).  The Berkeley partnership is unique, because cars reserved for city fleet use during business hours, including the new converted plug-in hybrid, are shared by other City CarShare members on weekends and evenings.

We expect to expand the number of CarShare PHEV nodes in neighborhoods throughout Berkeley in the coming years.  Our hope is that after having experienced the benefits of electric vehicles, our citizens will be motivated to invest in this eco-friendly technology for their private use when considering new automobile purchases.

It is clear that in order for the ‘Race for Electric Vehicles’ to be successful, we must approach this plan from a regional level.  The City of Berkeley is proud to be partnering with other governmental groups throughout the Bay Area as we work to create a corridor of infrastructure that encourages electric vehicle usage, and is committed to every effort in creating a sustainable Berkeley.

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Image Courtesy phoosh via Flickr under Creative Commons License.

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  • http://dotcommodity.blogspot.com Susan Kraemer

    What a great plan!

    And I love that this encourages the use of EV conversions that we already have in Berkeley (and around the country!)

    …we don’t have to wait around for the auto behemoths like GM to build EVs.

  • http://dotcommodity.blogspot.com Susan Kraemer

    What a great plan!

    And I love that this encourages the use of EV conversions that we already have in Berkeley (and around the country!)

    …we don’t have to wait around for the auto behemoths like GM to build EVs.

  • Uncle B

    Now get those deserts out west filled with Solar-Electric plants, thermal or voltaic, your choice, and the battery, plug-in vehicles will ballast the system! Add a bit of Wind power for funkiness, throw in some Tidal and you’ve gotten off the foreign oil hook ahead of the game! Super-insulation techniques need exposure on the net! Another fine way to save Energy in general! How about a shot at Geo-Thermal? Anyone look at that lately? Oil will go up, rest assured, and the dollar will go down, we did the borrowing, right? but the sun will always shine, the wind will blow, and it really is perpetual power, and free! Go for it! and good luck!

  • Uncle B

    Now get those deserts out west filled with Solar-Electric plants, thermal or voltaic, your choice, and the battery, plug-in vehicles will ballast the system! Add a bit of Wind power for funkiness, throw in some Tidal and you’ve gotten off the foreign oil hook ahead of the game! Super-insulation techniques need exposure on the net! Another fine way to save Energy in general! How about a shot at Geo-Thermal? Anyone look at that lately? Oil will go up, rest assured, and the dollar will go down, we did the borrowing, right? but the sun will always shine, the wind will blow, and it really is perpetual power, and free! Go for it! and good luck!

  • Uncle B

    Now get those deserts out west filled with Solar-Electric plants, thermal or voltaic, your choice, and the battery, plug-in vehicles will ballast the system! Add a bit of Wind power for funkiness, throw in some Tidal and you’ve gotten off the foreign oil hook ahead of the game! Super-insulation techniques need exposure on the net! Another fine way to save Energy in general! How about a shot at Geo-Thermal? Anyone look at that lately? Oil will go up, rest assured, and the dollar will go down, we did the borrowing, right? but the sun will always shine, the wind will blow, and it really is perpetual power, and free! Go for it! and good luck!