BMW, Frito-Lay, Price Chopper, Ikea, National Grid, Public Service Electric and Gas Company, and Ceres’ business advocacy coalition BICEP – on behalf of member companies including Starbucks, Nike, eBay and Clif Bar – are among the 70 companies and organizations that have pledged to facilitate the deployment of electric vehicles in the northeastern US, according to the Transportation and Climate Initiative (TCI).
The commitments come as 10 states and the District of Columbia develop the Northeast Electric Vehicle Network, a TCI project launched in late 2011 to enables travelers to drive plug-in cars and trucks from northern New England to DC and all states in between.
TCI says Frito-Lay has 47 electric trucks in the northeast and plans to add another 30 to its fleet in the region in 2012. Frito-Lay’s EV fleet will include more than 280 all-electric trucks by the end of 2012.
EV tech companies including ECOtality, Coulomb Technologies and AeroVironment have pledged to work with the initiative to help overcome EV deployment obstacles, according to TCI.
Other signatories to date are: Electric Drive Transportation Association, the Baltimore Electric Vehicle Initiative, Mass Audubon, Converdant Vehicles, The Bozzuto Group, Atlantic County Utilities Authority, Vanasse Hangen Brustlin, Conservation Law Foundation, American National Standards Institute, Project Get Ready Rhode Island, Environment Northeast, Southern New Hampshire Planning Commission, The Climate Group, Timber Rock Energy Solutions, Pair Networks Inc., Consolidated Edison Company of New York, Central Connecticut Regional Planning Agency, Maryland Science Center, City of Albany, University of Albany, City of Baltimore, Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus, AutoPort, Vermont Energy Investment Corporation, Fuji Electric Corp. of America, Green Mountain Power, Partnerships 1, Vermont Department of Public Service, Vermont Electric Power Company, EVermont, SemaConnect, Beacon Hill Athletic Club, Pittsburgh Climate Initiative, Howard County, Pittsburgh Region Clean Cities, and Ceres’ BICEP on behalf of their member companies, which also include Annie’s Inc., Anvil Knitwear, Aspen Skiing Company, Avon Products, Ben and Jerry’s, Eileen Fisher, Gap Inc., Jones Lang LaSalle, KB Home, Levi Strauss & Co., Limited Brands, New Belgium Brewing, The North Face, Outdoor Industry Association, Seventh Generation, Stonyfield Farm, Symantec and Timberland.
