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St. Louis, Missouri, is a diverse Midwestern city that has encountered a half-century of economic downturn, with its population diminishing from 850,000 to 300,000 since 1950. Additionally, with no local or state incentives for electric vehicles (EVs), access to both EVs and charging infrastructure has been limited. The overall goal of the St. Louis Vehicle Electrification Rides for Seniors (SiLVERS) project is to increase EV adoption and reduce transportation-related operating expenses for social service agencies in low-income communities. The project seeks to increase EV adoption by validating that EV fleets can save social service agencies money on transportation operation costs while improving service delivery, providing access to electric vehicle supply equipment (EVSE) for employees and community members, and developing tools and best practices for use by community-based organizations and social service agencies nationwide, allowing them to replicate this approach.

For more information on this project, check the Technology Integration 2021 Annual Report or the 2022 Annual Merit Review presentation and the 2023 Annual Merit Review presentation.

The objective of the Supporting Transportation Electrification - Leadership, Learning, Assistance, and Resources (STELLAR) project is to bring together 13 Community-Based Organizations (CBOs), supported by several nonprofit technical assistance providers, to build capacity, engage community members, develop strategic plans, and conduct workforce training to support more equitable transportation decarbonization in underserved communities.

The objectives of this project are to research, develop, and demonstrate data processing techniques, models, simulations, smart phone applications, and a visual-confirmation system for efficient urban goods delivery.

The Texas Alternative Fuels Pilot Project was led by the Railroad Commission of Texas. The Commission partnered with 45 qualified school districts and other public entities across the state of Texas to fund the total incremental cost of 608 vehicles, including propane and natural gas school buses, medium-duty trucks and vans, and light-duty vehicles through grants. To enhance the project’s sustainability, the Commission also awarded grants to install or upgrade 31propane or natural gas refueling stations on properties owned by partner fleets. The stations allowed the fleets to lower their costs by buying fuel in bulk, receive federal motor fuel excise tax credits, and refuel at the times most convenient to their schedules. Concurrently, the Commission designed and implemented a two-part public education program for Clean Cities stakeholders, fleet operators, and the general public involving all of the Clean Cities coalitions in Texas.

The project developed a plan and template that supports regional stakeholders in the development and implementation of local codes, expedited permitting and inspections, and processes and procedures to enable efficient and cost-effective placement of charging infrastructure in the area between San Antonio and Georgetown, Texas.

This project focused on a plan for plug-in electric vehicle charging infrastructure between the "Texas Triangle" cities of Dallas/Fort Worth, Houston/Galveston, and Austin/San Antonio along with topical areas of statewide application.

The Alternative Fuel Vehicle Curriculum Development and Outreach Initiative will develop curricula and conduct training related to alternative fuel and plug-in electric vehicles for a wide range of individuals and organizations. This project will focus on developing curricula that does not yet exist in critical areas, such as for recycling operators and repair facilities. The National Alternative Fuels Training Consortium will conduct marketing and outreach activities to promote this training and support U.S. Department of Energy (USDOE) Clean Cities coalitions' work to promote AFV deployment. Through online courses and train-the-trainer workshops, this project will have a national impact and establish resources that will last beyond the project's completion.

The objective of this project is to engage with business and community stakeholders in Hunts Point, a historically disadvantaged neighborhood in the South Bronx, to develop a community-driven electric vehicle (EV) charging deployment plan to guide the installation of chargers across the neighborhood. Since Hunts Point is both a thriving community and a trucking nexus due to the neighborhood’s produce markets, the “Hunts Point Electrification Roadmap” that the project develops will address the multimodal charging needs of Hunts Point’s residents and its businesses. In addition to the installation of EV charging infrastructure, the project will carry out significant community engagement around the benefits of EVs to expand EVs’ market share in Hunts Point. The project is lead by Empire Clean Cities.

Supplemental mobility services such as carsharing offer significant opportunities for benefits to rural communities. Due to low population density, lack of charging infrastructure, lack of familiarity with carsharing or electric vehicles, and longer driving distances, carsharing has not been well established in rural communities. The Clean Rural Shared Electric Mobility Project (CRuSE) introduces an all-electric carshare program in Hood River, Oregon. The carshare, consisting of five electric vehicles placed with dedicated electric vehicle charging stations at five distinct sites, helps provide access to several groups of users including city employees, affordable housing residents, tourists, and the local community population. This project will develop, demonstrate, and refine an affordable, accessible, sustainable, and replicable financial model for electric carsharing in rural Hood River, Oregon. The overall project goals of the CRuSE Project are to demonstrate that round trip electric vehicle carsharing can serve rural communities—including low-income residents—in an effective and financially sustainable way, and to develop the tools and voice to educate, encourage and replicate carsharing in other rural communities. The project team will collect a broad variety of data from users, carshare vehicles, and charging stations to assess the impact of the project on energy use and greenhouse gas emissions as well as local knowledge of electric vehicles.

For more information on this project, check the Technology Integration 2020 Annual Report or Annual Merit Review presentation.

The Midwest DRIVES Initiative: Demonstrating Reliable Innovative Energy Solutions Project will reduce barriers to Alternative Fuel Vehicle (AFV) deployment in a 4 state area by offering a wide range of medium-term (30-90 day average) AFV demonstrations to fleets. Through these demonstrations, fleets will gain operational experience and the project can collect data to provide validation for AFV purchases. Based on this data, the project will perform analyses and create case studies to reveal cost-and fuel-saving opportunities relative to conventional vehicle models. Using these analyses, case studies, and information about financial incentives and leasing models, the project will present fleet education and outreach programming so similar fleets across the nation can gain confidence in AFV adoption.