Forth Receives $9-Million for National Electric Mobility Programs

AMP was awarded $5M over three years. AMP includes the GoForth CarShare program and seeks to reduce the barriers to electric vehicle adoption facing underserved communities, particularly residents of affordable housing. It will: Increase access to clean, affordable transportation to residents of affordable housing developments; demonstrate a replicable model for affordable housing agencies to offer EV carsharing using fleet vehicles as a transportation service to their residents; and demonstrate how dedicated carsharing chargers can also serve community members, effectively improving the regional charging network.

“The environmental, economic, and social costs of internal combustion cars are dramatic, yet nearly 90% of trips in the US are made by car,” said Forth’s AMP Program Manager Connor Herman. “By building programs around drivers who have traditionally faced the most barriers to electrification, Forth works to make it easier and cheaper to access an electric car than an internal combustion vehicle.”

The AMP project will bring together stakeholders from utility, municipal, social service, nonprofit, technical and research sectors to advance the electrification of transportation in underserved communities. Locations include cities in the Southwest, Southeast, Northwest, and Midwest.

LEEP was awarded $4M over three years. It will develop a national workplace charging campaign, building upon the EVAL certification pilot Forth has developed that makes it easy for employers to provide electric vehicle charging, and easy for utilities and other partners to support them in doing so. Forth will develop and implement a communications campaign; perform strategic outreach with partners to spur widespread employer demand for the program and certification; and collectively build a financially sustainable, long-term model for installing and managing workplace charging. This project will document how a sea-change expansion of workplace charging, employee education and related interventions with employers can most effectively drive EV awareness and adoption, produce climate benefits and reduce emissions, reduce commute costs for workers and strengthen employer operations.

“Access to charging is a major barrier to electrification, especially for historically underserved communities,” notes Forth’s LEEP Senior Program Manager, Kelly Yearick. “This program seeks to make it as easy to charge a car as it is to park a car.”

Transportation emits more carbon pollution than any other sector of the U.S. economy, making up approximately 29% of emissions. The announcements align with DOE’s commitment to reaching President Biden’s goals of having zero-emission vehicles make up half of all vehicles sold in America by 2030 and achieving net-zero emissions economy-wide by 2050.

“DOE is working with manufacturers and industry partners to reimagine vehicle transportation across the country to achieve our climate goals—from lowering carbon emissions to increasing efficiency and affordability,” said U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer M. Granholm. “This investment and the innovations that come from it will help shape our clean energy future and strengthen domestic manufacturing that supports good-paying careers for hardworking Americans.”

Forth worked with nearly 80 partners signed on to the proposals to be part of scaling these innovative national efforts.

Forth seeks to build a world where clean and equitable transportation systems move everyone and everything, to realize community wellbeing and mitigate climate change. With increasingly compelling reasons to switch to electric transportation (such as reduced maintenance and fuel costs), 70% of Americans are still relatively unfamiliar with EVs. There is a pressing need for increased consumer awareness and equitable exposure to the benefits, incentives, and options on the market.

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Forth advances electric, shared and smart transportation. Learn more at www.forthmobility.org.