Memphis Light, Gas and Water

EV Project

MLGW is a proud partner in the installation of a new solar-powered charging station for electric vehicles at Shelby Farms

(February 2012) - Recently announced, the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) and the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) are teaming up to install solar-powered charging stations across the state, including one at Memphis' very own Shelby Farms. The $500,000 station is scheduled to open this Summer. The charging station, which is being built next to the park’s Visitors Center will have spaces for ten vehicles and will be free to use. In addition to the solar-powered Shelby Farms station, many other non-solar charging stations will be built around Memphis.

Back on February 22, 2011, MLGW, City of Memphis and industry leaders gathered to announce that Memphis has been added to the EV Project, a federally- and privately-funded $230 million venture designed to increase adoption of electric vehicles (EV) and install charging infrastructure in selected metropolitan areas in Tennessee, Texas, Arizona, California, Oregon and Washington, plus the District of Columbia.

As an EV Project participant, Memphis joined Nashville, Knoxville and Chattanooga as sites for private and public access EV charging stations. ECOtality, the company managing the project, is deploying nearly 15,000 charging stations in the U.S., including some 40-50 public access stations within Shelby County. The EV Project provides a free Blink Level 2 charging system and funds most, if not all, of the installation costs for public-access charging hosts. Project partners will collect and analyze data to study vehicle use and charging effectiveness, as well as test revenue systems for commercial and public charging stations.

There are two ways that your business or organization can be involved in the fast-moving EV Project:

MLGW customers interested in hosting public-access charging stations on their property should sign a non-binding Letter of Intent. An assessment will be conducted to determine installation site and cost, exposure to public EV users, and other factors ECOtality will use to select locations.
MLGW customers interested in buying a Nissan LEAF for personal or business use and who wish to receive a private Level 2 charging station as well as a factory-installed DC Fast Charge connection port through the project are also should sign the non-binding Letter of Intent.
To request the Letter of Intent, email: SCox@ecotality.com and indicate your interest as either a potential LEAF buyer or a potential public access charging station host.

MLGW has ordered one EV bucket truck and intends to add four EV sedans to its fleet as part of the project. In addition to the private charging stations associated with those EV purchases, MLGW is exploring locations for potential public-access charging stations. The Blink Level 2 commercial charging station can energize an electric vehicle's fully-depleted battery to 100% in approximately seven hours, compared to an 11-hour charge for a Level 1 residential unit and a 30-minute, 80%-charge for the commercial DC Fast Charger units. The systems use a universal connector that will be offered for all brands and models of EVs. Some solar-assisted charging stations will be used to Tennessee as part of a research project between TVA, Electric Power Research Institute and Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

A project partner, Nissan North America will manufacture an estimated 150,000 all-electric LEAF models annually in Smyrna, TN, beginning in 2012 after a $1.4 billion plant retrofit is completed. Japanese-manufactured Nissan LEAF EVs were delivered to the first U.S. buyers in December 2010. Additional units are scheduled for delivery throughout the year in Tennessee and a few other states.

In related news, the Tennessee Office of Energy Policy announced a new $2,500 point-of-purchase rebate available to the first 1,000 qualifying Tennessee buyers of a Nissan LEAF. For information about the state incentives, contact the Nissan Contact Center at 1-877 NO GAS EV (877-664-2738). The state incentive is in addition to the existing $7,500 Federal tax credit available to electric vehicle buyers. Details on the federal incentive are available at: http://energytaxincentives.org/consumers/vehicles.php

ECOtality's News Release
For more information, visit www.theevproject.com
Read the brochure, "Plugging In: A Consumer's Guide to the Electric Vehicle"
MLGW's Bird on a Wire Blog - Memphis Gets CHARGED UP!
PlugInMemphis.org