Project Get Ready RI Announces Progress on Electric Car-Friendly Providence

Project Get Ready RI Announces Progress on Electric Car-Friendly Providence

Electric cars quietly zipping among the streets of Providence has become closer to a reality, according to Project Get Ready Rhode Island.

The national not-for-profit initiative helping cities prepare for and welcome plug-in electric vehicles (PEVs), has announced pledges from more than a dozen companies, individuals and institutions to install charging stations in anticipation of the arrival of PEVs in Rhode Island by the end of this year.

“I believe that proper stewardship of our environmental resources can go hand-in-hand with economic development – and Project Get Ready is an example of that,” Governor Chafee said at a recent press conference. “Electric cars are going to be an increasingly significant part of our lives in the coming years – and by partnering with Project Get Ready and becoming an early plug-in leader, we are putting our state in an advantageous position for adopting and embracing cleaner, more efficient automotive technology that benefits both our environment and our economy.” 

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More than 12 places to plug in

“We welcome the Governor’s leadership on this issue and look forward to working with him to make Rhode Island a leader in electric vehicles and reducing our reliance on imported oil,” said Project Get Ready RI Coordinator Al Dahlberg. More than a dozen Rhode Island companies and institutions have stepped forward and pledged to install charging stations as plug in electric vehicles become available: Alteris Renewables, Providence; Bio-Detek, Pawtucket; Biltmore Garage, Providence; Blue Earth Consulting, Providence; The Box Office, Providence; Ocean State Clean Cities at the URI Energy Center, Kingston; Composite Energy Technologies, Bristol; Fleetmaster, Providence; the Town of Jamestown, TH Mally Biodiesel, Cumberland; Laservall NA, Pawtucket; eStar Electric Vehicles/DATTCO, Providence; Solar Canopy, Providence; Schneider Electric, West Kingston; and Portsmouth Abbey School, Portsmouth. 

Leadership in green transportation

The mission of Project Get Ready RI is to establish Rhode Island as a leader in green transportation, decrease transportation costs, and reduce emissions by getting 10,000 PEVs on the road by 2015.  PGR RI recognized the highlights from last year and progress made to date towards their goal.  In August, the state’s first public charging station was launched at Cardi’s Furniture on Route 2 in West Warwick.  Project Get Ready hosted two electric vehicle demonstrations this past year, one with the Apeiron Institute in Providence and another at the New England Institute of Technology in Warwick. Project Get Ready also partnered with URI, which hosted the Take Charge EV Conference in October.  Students at Brown University worked on several critical projects including: a Rhode Island appendix for charging station installation guidelines, predictive models of electric vehicle clustering around the state, a matrix of available charging station equipment and the potential for carbon reductions from electric vehicles in RI. 

Rhode Island was the sixth community and first state to join Project Get Ready, an initiative of the Rocky Mountain Institute that started in 2009.  Other participating communities are: Denver/Boulder, CO, Houston, TX, Indianapolis, IN, Kansas City, MO, Orlando, FL, North Central Texas, Portland, OR, Raleigh, NC, Richmond, VA, Toronto, Ontario, Vancouver, British Columbia.  

For more information about Project Get Ready Rhode Island, visit the Web site, here.