Julian Espiritu, right, shows Patricia Sager features of a car at the celebration of Chattanooga’s electric vehicle car share “First Plug-In.”More Info
Proposed partner site locations for charging stations:CARTA: Lookout Mountain Incline RailwayCARTA: Shuttle Park SouthCARTA: Shuttle Park NorthCARTA: Shuttle Park North ShoreCBL & Associates Properties Inc.: Hamilton Place mallCBL & Associates Properties Inc.: Northgate MallChattanooga AirportChattanooga Theatre CentreCHI Memorial Hospital: Memorial Main HospitalCity of Chattanooga: Vine Street at DouglasCity of Chattanooga: Warner Park/Chattanooga ZooCity of Chattanooga: West 11th Street at Market/BroadErlanger Heath System: Erlanger EastHamilton County Tennessee Riverpark: Chattanooga StateKinsey Probasco Hays: Flying Squirrel/Crash PadSouthern Adventist UniversityUnited Methodist Neighborhood Centers Inc.: The Bethlehem CenterAdditional sites are still under evaluation.Proposed partner site locations for solar generators:CARTA Main FacilityChattanooga AirportSouthern Adventist UniversityLearn more about Chattanooga’s electric car-sharing program at greencommuter.org/chattanooga.
Within the next couple of weeks, 20 Nissan Leafs will be stationed in various parking facilities in Chattanooga and Collegedale to provide drivers all-electric vehicles to rent by the hour through a smartphone app, making Chattanooga one of the first cities in the nation with an electric vehicle ride share program.
“The electric vehicle car share program will reduce air pollution and traffic congestion and offer a safe, environmentally friendly alternative to owning a car,” said Lisa Maragnano, executive director for CARTA, which partnered with Los Angeles startup GreenCommuter, ChargePoint, EPB and Chattanooga consultant the Prova Group LLC to use a $3 million grant from the Tennessee Valley Authority to make this a reality.
A kickoff ceremony was held last week at Hamilton Place mall, where one of 50 new charging stations has been installed.
“The majority of the charging stations are located on a CARTA bus route, which will allow people to think twice about owning a car and lean more toward utilizing public transportation and the car share vehicle,” Maragnano said.
The typical motorist spends nearly $10,000 a year buying, insuring and operating a car, she noted, and the new greencommuter ride sharing program could help many people limit their transportation spending. Fewer vehicles would, in turn, free up downtown parking spaces and reduce urban pollution, program backers say.
TVA is sponsoring the program to help entice more motorists to try driving electric vehicles, which could help the federal utility gain new business and could help level TVA’s load by recharging car batteries at low demand periods.
The electric car ride sharing program will use a membership model. GreenCommuter will make the new Nissan Leafs available for $9 an hour to members, who pay an initial registration fee of $25 and an annual membership of $50.
GreenCommuter founder Gustave Occhiuzzo said the membership fees will be used to also pay for some of the initial trips for the early adopters of the program.
The rates for most people will be less expensive than the costs of owning your own vehicle, he added. Combined with CARTA’s free downtown shuttle and citywide bus system, it should allow commuters to give up their car ownership, if they choose.
“This is a proactive city and there is a lot of support with both a lot of charging stations and solar generation to ensure that that this is clean power,” Occhiuzzo said. “We’re finishing our beta testing and prepping the vehicles, but people can sign up for the service as of today.”
Users will be able to utilize GreenCommuter’s app to find a nearby rental electric car, use a smartphone to unlock it and start the engine (no key is involved).
Andrew Frye, a TVA power utilization engineer, said he hopes the program will expose thousands of drivers to electric cars and help more people realize the advantages of driving battery powered vehicles.
From a pollution standpoint, Frye said the Nissan Leaf vehicles are equivalent right now to driving a car that gets 50 miles per gallon, and by 2020, after TVA moves to greener generating sources, it will equal driving a car that gets 100 miles to the gallon of gas.
“Through the research and work that TVA has been doing with electric vehicles back to the 1980s, we’ve learned that electric vehicles are very efficient and easy to drive and cost a third of the operating expense of a gas-powered vehicle,” Frye said. “But while we’ve learned a lot, we still have more to learn, including figuring out how best to get the general public to be more familiar with and to use electric vehicles. That’s why this program and the opportunity to touch so many people is so exciting and important to us.”
Maragnano said in addition to CARTA’s electric shuttle downtown and the new electric car ride sharing program, the bus service will take delivery in February of two new 35-foot electric-powered buses with inductive charging and CARTA has funding to buy three more similar buses.
“So we continue to move on in the charge for electric vehicles,” she said.
Email Dave Flessner at dflessner@timesfreepress.com.