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City of Houston to amp up EV efforts through community strategy

Posted: 14 July 2020 |

The City of Houston has identified vehicle electrification as a key strategy in its Climate Action Plan.

City of Houston to amp up EV efforts through community strategy

City of Houston’s Office of Sustainability, in coordination with EVolve Houston, has issued a Request for Information (RFI) for a community-wide strategy for publicly-accessible electric vehicle (EV) support equipment and City-owned fleets.

The RFI is one of the first implementation efforts of the City’s recently released Climate Action Plan, which identifies vehicle electrification as a key strategy for Houstonians to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, improve regional air quality, and build climate resilience.

“Even in these challenging times, sustainability is at the heart of everything we do,” said Mayor Sylvester Turner. “As outlined in the Climate Action Plan, vehicle electrification can help clean our air and improve our climate resilience. We are looking for partners with innovative solutions to help make electric vehicles more available and affordable for all Houstonians.”

The RFI will gather information on public-private business models for owning, operating, and managing publicly accessible EV support equipment at City-owned and operated facilities located throughout the community and its own private fleet. The RFI will also seek information on equitable distribution of infrastructure, infrastructure optimisation and utilisation rates, infrastructure resilience, and revenue sharing opportunities. The findings from the RFI will be used to inform the scope and requirements for the City’s future electric vehicle infrastructure deployment.

“EVolve is excited to assist The City in their effort to support current and future EV adoption,” said Chris George, Executive Director of EVolve Houston, a coalition of sustainability-minded civic, business, and academic leaders who seek to accelerate clean transportation through electrification. “Houston continues to lead by example and will benefit greatly from taking immediate steps to address air quality and growing EV adoption following the launch of the Climate Action Plan.”

Responses to the RFI must be submitted by 7 August 2020 at 16:00 Central Standard Time.