RALEIGH – The state transportation secretary released a video Thursday and shared the state’s strategic plan for increasing the number of zero-emission vehicles in North Carolina as part of the state’s Clean Energy Week awareness efforts.
NCDOT Secretary Jim Trogdon gave highlights of the North Carolina Zero-Emission Vehicle plan to media during an event at an electric car charging station at Wake Technical Community College, which can be viewed here. Gov. Roy Cooper directed NCDOT last fall to develop the plan as part of Executive Order No. 80, which outlines the state’s commitment to address climate change and transition to a clean energy economy.
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“Zero-emission vehicles will improve the air we breathe, allow for greater mobility and grow our clean energy economy,” Trogdon said in a release. “ZEVs are a new technology that is disrupting the transportation industry. That’s why this plan is important – how do we prepare for and leverage disruptive technologies?”
The plan outlines a strategy to increase the number of zero-emission vehicles registered in the state to at least 80,000 by 2025. There are about 9,600 fully electric vehicles registered in the state now.
NCDOT consulted with stakeholders, other state agencies and industry partners to create the plan that includes the following strategies to increase ZEV registrations:
- Promoting public awareness and education about electric vehicles. NCDOT created a video as its first step in public outreach on the plan.
- Making it more convenient to own and operate a ZEV, including expanding charging stations across the state.
- Advancing policy changes to promote electric vehicles.
Cooper’s Executive Order 80 commits the state to reducing statewide greenhouse gas emissions to 40% below 2005 levels by 2025 and establishes the North Carolina Climate Change Interagency Council. The council to guide cabinet agencies in developing strategic plans in key areas to reach the goals of the order and directs actions for increased energy savings in state buildings.
Trogdon and NCDOT staff presented the plan Friday to Cooper during the council meeting in the Nature Research Center in Raleigh, when the North Carolina Clean Energy Plan will also be presented. The meeting was livestreamed online.
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Gov. Roy Cooper declared on Monday Sept. 22-28 as Clean Energy Week. Other Clean Energy Week events included a meeting Monday in Washington with area leaders to discuss renewable energy and resiliency for coastal communities frequently facing flooding and sea-level rise, when Cooper signed the declaration, and the Department of Administration was to tour the recently renovated Steam Plant, per a previous Coastal Review Online report.
