Overview - Texas Triangle Plug-In Electric Vehicle Readiness Plan

Interlinking travel corridors between the five largest cities in Texas

(September, 8, 2011) - The Center for the Commercialization of Electric Technologies (CCET) was awarded a $500,000 from the the U.S. Department of Energy's Clean Cities Initiative. CCET has joined with regional planning groups, along several CCET member companies, electric vehicle charging companies, electric vehicle manufacturers, and others to develop a plan for electric vehicle charging infrastructure deployment in the "Texas Triangle" (Dallas/Fort Worth, Houston/Galveston, and Austin/San Antonio) corridor.

Electric vehicles first made their entry into the transportation systems early in the last century only to disappear under the market pressure of the internal combustion engine and Henry Ford. But in my life time the electric vehicle "ride" has been for not so energetic golfers and two-wheeled scooter enthusiasts. But that's about to change. Modern electric vehicles offer all the comfort, safety and convenience of their gasoline counterparts, save one thing-range limitations. Our Texas efforts will lead the nation in developing the needed infrastructure to support electric vehicle travel among our major cities, and we'll clean up smog along the way. Milton Holloway, President & COO of CCET

Project Objective

The objective of this project is to create a community based electric vehicle infrastructure readiness plan and implement activities in anticipation of larger electric vehicle deployment efforts in the future.

Project Goals

The goal of this project is the development of a comprehensive Texas Triangle PEV Readiness Plan that focuses on the interlinking travel corridors between the five largest cities in Texas and leverages the cooperative efforts of stakeholders in three large metro areas (DFW, Austin/San Antonio, and Houston). The plan will address a comprehensive inter-regional charging infrastructure that allows consumers with PEVs to travel along the triangle highway system without range anxiety concerns. This plan will be developed in two phases:

Phase I will focus on preparation of individual topic- specific plans in areas such as:

    • Legislative, state agency, and regulatory issues,
    • Mid-size city model ordinances, permitting processes, and training to accommodate PEV charging along the corridors,
    • Electric utility readiness to address challenges and opportunities posed by PEVs and to promote managed charging through policies such as attractive rate plans,
    • Charging station infrastructure implementation plan for the interstate corridors between large metro areas, and
    • an Interactive consumer information program

Phase II will integrate these individual Phase I plans into a single comprehensive Texas Triangle Plan, and then provide a series of public forums for education, review and comment to assure that the Plan can be implemented.

Project Team

This Texas Triangle PEV Readiness Plan will include five planning teams: Plug-in Texas (state legislation and agency initiatives); Frontier Associates (electric utility issues and PEV grid interface); Southwestern Economics and AeroVironment, Inc. (mid-size city permitting, training, fleet transformation, ordinance preparation, code revisions, etc); ECOtality North America (PEV charging infrastructure along the triangle corridors); and Dave Tuttle Consulting (interactive information program). In addition, a Project Review Committee composed of Clean Cities coalition staff, electric utility representatives, and cognizant state agencies will provide review of the work products. Finally, Southwest Research Institute will provide key technical review and provide valuable insights into the implications of the economic change from a petroleum-based to an electricity-based transportation system.