Parking Industry Joins with U.S. Department of Energy to Support Obama Administration Initiative to Expand Electric Vehicle Charging Stations in the Workplace

The International Parking Institute (IPI) was named a founding Ambassador in the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)'s Workplace Charging Challenge, a new initiative of theEV Everywhere Grand Challenge, that was announced today by Secretary of Energy Steven Chu at the Washington Auto Show's Public Policy Day. The Workplace Charging Challenge will support the expansion of plug-in electric vehicles (PEVs) by encouraging employers to install charging stations at workplaces.

Increasing the availability of charging stations at places of employment will support the broader goal of the EV Everywhere Grand Challenge, announced by President Obama last year, which aims to enable U.S. companies to be world leaders in producing PEVs by making them as affordable and convenient as today's gas-powered vehicles for the average American family. In his keynote this afternoon, Secretary Chu said: "The market for electric vehicles is expanding dramatically, giving drivers more options to save money on gasoline while reducing carbon pollution."

Earlier in the day, IPI Chair Casey Jones, CAPP, joined other founding Ambassadors, Partners, and senior administration officials in a Workplace Charging Roundtable in Washington, D.C.

Workplace Charging Challenge Founding Partners include Google, Verizon, 3M, Eli Lilly, GE, Siemens, Duke Energy, San Diego Gas & Electric, Chrysler, Ford, GM, Nissan, and Tesla.

In addition to the International Parking Institute, Workplace Charging Challenge Founding Ambassadors include The California PEV Collaborative, CALSTART, Electric Drive Transportation Association, Electrification Coalition, NextEnergy, Plug In America, and the Rocky Mountain Institute.

"As an ambassador of the Workplace Charging Challenge, IPI now has a government-supported action plan to help us more keenly focus our efforts in this arena," explained Jones. "I believe that by working collectively, we can transform the way employers view their role in supporting PEV use and take a huge leap forward in protecting our environment."

According to IPI Executive Director Shawn Conrad, CAE, a revolution in technology has transformed the $30 billion parking industry into a major player in transportation, intelligent cities, and urban mobility in the past few years. He says a focus on sustainability has also been part of that transformation.

Among the top 10 trends cited by parking professionals in IPI's 2012 Emerging Trends in ParkingSurvey was "a need to accommodate electric car charging stations." In the same survey, accommodating electric vehicles was among the things having the greatest potential to improve sustainability in parking.

"We have been very aggressive in promoting sustainability, including the use of PEV-charging infrastructure, in parking facilities," said Conrad, citing the association's Sustainability Committee, publication of its Framework on Sustainability for Parking Design, Operations, and Management, extensive coverage of EVs in IPI's The Parking Professional magazine, and last year's IPI Conference & Expo keynote address by General Motors innovator Britta Gross as just a few examples.

Conrad said: "Supporting DOE's goal to increase the number of American employers offering workplace charging by tenfold over the next five years is something we take seriously."

About the IPI

The International Parking Institute (IPI) in the world's largest association of parking professionals and the parking industry. IPI members include parking equipment and services providers, commercial operators, parking enforcers, and parking and transportation decision-makers at cities and municipalities, colleges and universities, hospitals, retail complexes, sports and entertainment centers, among others. Learn more at www.parking.org.