In 2007, Mayor Michael Bloomberg initiated PlaNYC, a series of proposals aimed at combating climate change, increasing the quality of life of New York City residents, and preparing for about a million new projected residents by the year 2030. Amongst other initiatives such as GreeNYC – which focuses on green building and promoting environmentally conscious and energy efficient resident behavior, and MillionTreesNYC- which endeavors to plant 1,000,000 new trees in NYC by 2030- is a major initiative encouraging the adoption of electric vehicles in the city.
Transportation accounts for 22% of New York City’s carbon emissions. PlaNYC strives to reduce these greenhouse gases by 44% by 2030 through the encouragement of taking public transportation, bicycling and walking, and the adoption of EVs into the City’s market and infrastructure. In a study conducted in 2010, PlaNYC concluded that by 2015 up to 16% of new vehicle purchases in the City may be electric. To meet their carbon abatement targets and vehicle purchasing projections, PlaNYC is establishing an aggressive plan to encourage EVs and provide charging infrastructure throughout the city.
The City has already purchased 50 Chevy Volts, 10 Ford Transit Connects, and is testing out 10 additional electric Navistar Trucks for use in the Police, Fire, Transportation, Environmental Protection and Parks Department vehicle fleets. PlaNYC is proposing to build EV charging stations throughout the 5 boroughs in commercial lots and on-street parking places. PlaNYC’s projections from research conducted across the City in 2010 point to a potential electric vehicle population of 50,000 units by 2015.
Through qualitative research, PlaNYC has come up with a large breadth of potential initiatives to increase the adoption of EVs in the New York Metropolitan area. These initiatives include proposed public charging stations at large shopping centers (like Brooklyn’s IKEA) and major transportation areas (JFK, LaGuardia), installing fast charging stations at gas stations throughout the city, providing city and state tax credits to the upfront price of EVs, providing discounted parking spaces and EV preferred lanes on major roads. Although most of these initiatives are still in the proposal stage, PlaNYC continues to conduct research and analysis in an effort to make New York City a greener, more efficient and livable urban area.
Read more about PlaNYC here.
Earthgarage – Greener Car. Fatter Wallet.