Maine and Quebec announced an initiative to expand electric vehicle infrastructure between the state and the province.
The announcement was made in Quebec City by Gov. Paul LePage and Quebec Premier Philippe Couillard.
The electric vehicle corridor initiative will build a public-private partnership to increase electric vehicle charging stations for travel between Quebec and Portland and assess the feasibility of additional charging stations to improve transit to other tourist locations in Maine.
The State of Maine, through the Energy Office and the Department of Transportation, plan to work with local businesses, national electric vehicle companies, and the newly formed “Drive Electric Maine” organization to ensure proper planning for an expansion of electric vehicle charging stations in the Pine Tree State.
The partnership complements a major effort by Quebec to put 100,000 electric vehicles on the road by 2020. The province currently has roughly 8,500 electric vehicles registered, half the total in all of Canada, according to Quebec’s transport ministry.
The Premier and Governor have directed a Committee of state and provincial agencies to execute an initial plan by summer 2016 and to continue to work with colleagues in the region to build on this effort.
“Tourism is our biggest industry, and it is critical that we ensure we have the electric vehicle infrastructure to ensure that the people of Quebec can continue to visit our beautiful state,” said Governor LePage. “The history of the Quebec and Maine relationship is strong, and we must maintain our connectivity with modern transportation infrastructure. Electric vehicles have made significant progress and are coming to Maine. It’s vital we have a plan to make Maine open to this important technological change.”
“Electrification of transportation is a major shift in our traditional way of understanding transportation, especially in terms of innovation, research and infrastructure,” added Premier Couillard. “Quebec fully embraces this opportunity to build a successful partnership with Maine in a thriving area such as transportation electrification. I salute Governor LePage’s intentions to add this new dimension to the long-standing relationship between Quebec and Maine. We look forward to sharing expertise and to expanding new connections between our two jurisdictions.”
