This is an excerpt from EERE Network News, a weekly electronic newsletter.

February 06, 2013

Thirteen Major Companies Join Energy Department's Charging Challenge

The Energy Department announced on January 31 that 13 major U.S. employers and eight stakeholder groups have joined the new Workplace Charging Challenge to help expand access to workplace charging stations across the country. The Workplace Charging Challenge is a collaborative effort to increase the number of U.S. employers offering workplace charging by tenfold in the next five years. The first 13 employers have signed the Workplace Charging Pledge as partners, including 3M, the Chrysler Group, Duke Energy, Eli Lilly and Company, the Ford Motor Company, General Electric, General Motors, Google, Nissan, the San Diego Gas & Electric Company, Siemens, Tesla Motors, and Verizon. The pledge commits each partner organization to assess workforce charging demands for plug-in electric vehicles (PEVs) and to develop and implement a plan to install workplace charging infrastructure for at least one major worksite location.

Eight stakeholder organizations also have signed the Ambassador Pledge to develop and execute plans to support and promote the workplace charging initiative, including: the California PEV Collaborative, CALSTART, the Electric Drive Transportation Association, the Electrification Coalition, the International Parking Institute, NextEnergy, Plug In America, and the Rocky Mountain Institute. The Energy Department will provide technical assistance and establish a forum for partners and ambassadors to share information.

The Workplace Charging Challenge supports the broader efforts of the Department'sEV Everywhere Grand Challenge, announced by President Obama in March 2012, to make PEVs as affordable and convenient for American families as gasoline-powered vehicles within the next 10 years. As part of the announcement, the Department released the EV Everywhere Grand Challenge Blueprint, which describes PEV technology and deployment barriers, as well as steps to move forward in achieving theEV Everywhere goal. See the Energy Department press release and the EV Everywhere Grand Challenge Blueprint and webpage.