Bay Area Companies Awarded for Electric Vehicle Readiness

PALO ALTO, Calif., June 6, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- The Bay Area Climate Collaborative (BACC) and Silicon Valley Leadership Group today announced the winners of the 2013 Ready, Set, Charge! Bay Area Electric Vehicle (EV) Readiness Awards at the 2013 Silicon Valley Driving Charged & Connected Symposium, taking place at SAP in Palo Alto, California.

Awards were presented in three categories to the following recipients:

• Most EV Ready Business (tied) – Google, SAP
• Most EV Ready Community
  • Small/Medium category – The City of Davis
  • Large category – The City of San Jose
• Most EV Ready Development – Madera Apartments

Award nominees were evaluated by a committee of industry experts on multiple criteria including leader and community engagement, number of EV charging stations, adopted policies and ordinances supporting charging station investment and dissemination, streamlined permitting for charging station construction, and outreach and education to further accelerate the EV market.

This year's award winners distinguished themselves as the most EV ready in the Bay Area among dozens of applicants. Google continuously provides employees with access to a rapidly growing pool of over 50 plug-in carsharing vehicles, over 75 EVs for intra-campus service and mobility, and a robust EV charging infrastructure with over 400 vehicle chargers. SAP was recognized for its employee EV leasing program, early adopter approach for EV stations on campus and EV shuttles, financial incentives, executive engagement in EV strategy, and outstanding EV ecosystem products. The City of Davis was selected as the most EV ready small community for its impressive proliferation of EV charging stations throughout the city, and for strongly emphasizing community involvement and outreach to advance the local EV ecosystem. The City of San Jose was recognized as the most EV ready large community for their intergovernmental operations of streamlining charging station permitting processes, incorporating and enforcing EV-friendly policies, and installing numerous public chargers in accessible locations. In the Development category, Madera Apartments was acknowledged as a notable model for establishing a pre-wiring infrastructure for Level 1 charging stations and individual house meters throughout its complex.

The awards were presented by Jason Wolf, CEO of Collaboratev, an independent roaming and clearing company that enables charging operators to simplify and enhance the EV driver's experience and drive further growth of the EV industry. "Achieving mass adoption of EVs is a primary goal for society as a whole, and it is important to recognize Bay Area private and public sector organizations who are leading the way. Collaboratev is proud to support this year's Bay Area EV Readiness Awards," said Wolf.

"These businesses, developments, and local governments are leading the charge in the state's ambitious goal of 100,000 electric vehicles by 2020," said Rafael Reyes, Executive Director of the Bay Area Climate Collaborative. "With their leadership, the state is that much closer to realizing over $120 million in fuel savings annually – improving the economy, community health and reducing climate impacts."

The Ready, Set, Charge! Bay Area EV Readiness Awards evaluation committee included the following EV experts:

• Don Bray, Joint Venture Silicon Valley
• James Helmer, LightMoves Consulting
• John Kalb, EV Charging Pros
• Richard Battersby, East Bay Clean Cities
• Whitney Pitkanen, CALSTART

For more information about the awards, visit baclimate.org/impact/ev-readiness-awards.html.

About Collaboratev LLC.
Collaboratev is a platform that provides a seamless charging experience for EV drivers. Collaboratev is an industry-wide platform for interoperability, data exchange, station information and financial reconciliation, and invites all of the industry to join as affiliates. For more information on Collaboratev, please visit: www.collaboratev.com

About the Bay Area Climate Collaborative
The Bay Area Climate Collaborative (BACC) is a public-private initiative accelerating the clean energy economy. Major partners include Bank of America, Pacific Gas & Electric, Environmental Defense Fund and local governments representing over 70 percent of the Bay Area population. The BACC is driving electric vehicle, energy efficiency, residential upgrades and distributed renewables innovation. For more information on the BACC, please visit: www.baclimate.org.  

About the Silicon Valley Leadership Group
The Silicon Valley Leadership Group, founded in 1978 by David Packard of Hewlett-Packard, represents more than 335 of Silicon Valley's most respected employers on issues, programs and campaigns that affect the economic health and quality of life in Silicon Valley, including energy, transportation, education, housing, health care, tax policies, economic vitality and the environment. Leadership Group members collectively provide nearly one of every three private sector jobs in Silicon Valley. For more information on the Leadership Group, please visit: http://svlg.org

SOURCE Bay Area Climate Collaborative