100% Renewable Electric Vehicle (EV) Charging Infrastructure + Emergency Backup Power
Pittsburgh, PA
The City of Pittsburgh achieved their goal to acquire 100% renewably energized electric vehicle charging units for the City's growing fleet of electric vehicles. The charging infrastructure is not connected to the grid and is a source of emergency power backup, supporting neighborhood resilience goals.
Topics Covered
Cost
Initial: 421 Thousand USD
Funding
Grants
State and local grants
Project Status
Operational since 2018
Gov Champion
The City of Pittsburgh Office of Management and Budget on behalf of Equipment Leasing Authority
Problem Addressed
As a part of their Climate Action Plan and Resilience Strategy, the City of Pittsburgh is converting all of their fleet vehicles to electric and powering them with renewable energy.
To do this the City has divested funds from fossil fuels endeavors to invest in 100% renewable energy power sources. But the city recognized that this transition would take time, so decided to take an incremental approach towards replacing current fleet vehicles with electric vehicles and renewable energy powered EV infrastructure. The City of Pittsburgh started with 5 EV ARC™ units.
Solutions Used
The goal of this specific project was to make progress toward reducing city-wide transportation emissions by 50%.
To achieve this, the City incrementally acquired enough EV charging stations and renewable energy to power the City's current fleet of EVs. The EV ARC™ solar standalone charging station enabled the City to provide easy and quick to install renewable power, in a way that visually and functionally met the needs of the neighborhood. Bonus, the charging infrastructure is not connected to the grid so is a source of emergency power backup, supporting neighborhood resilience goals.
The City's Climate Action Plan outlines the goal to operate a fossil-fuel-free fleet by 2030.
Outcomes
1
13.87 tons of carbon emissions reduced
2
Zero permitting, electrical, construction and digging/trenching costs
3
The City's fleet vehicles will be able to charge even if the grid is down
Something Unique
The Office of Management and Budget put out a Request for Proposal for a Mobile Electric Charging Station in conjunction with the Alternative Fuels Incentive Grant Program.
Who Should Consider
Any city that is trying to reduce carbon emitted by their fleet, wants the ability to charge electric vehicles anywhere, and in times of extended grid failure wants a source of emergency power.
Last Updated
Mar 10th, 2022More resources about this case study
Keywords
