EUGENE, Ore. -- (May 19, 2010) – Electric vehicles are coming to the Eugene and Springfield area.
Students at the University of Oregon are hosting a community event to raise awareness about electric vehicles and charging stations, and to share results from a year-long study on infrastructure needs in our local region.
“Get Plugged In” is a free, public event from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. May 26, at the Lane County Fairgrounds, 796 W. 13 Ave. The event, organized by the University of Oregon’s Community Planning Workshop (CPW), will share student research, include guest speakers and industry experts, and showcase electric car and charging station examples.
Lane County Commissioner Pete Sorenson will introduce keynote speaker George Beard, a Portland State University professor, whose presentation “Driving the Transformation: The Rise of Electric Vehicles in Oregon” will be followed by a panel for questions and answers.
Other panelists for the event include Eugene Mayor Kitty Piercy; Mark Frohnmayer, president of Arcimoto; David Mayfield, eTec representative; and Joshua Skov, a member of the City of Eugene Sustainability Commission.
The five-member student team from the UO’s Community Planning Workshop will present its study for the local area, “Eugene and Springfield Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure Community Needs and Feasibility Assessment.” CPW team members are hoping to make people feel more at ease with this new technology through comprehensive research and analysis of the charging infrastructure.
“We’ve looked at a lot of selection criteria with charging stations in similar-sized cities,” said Sasha Fertig, UO graduate fellow. “We’re comparing the demographics to find out what works with other communities that are further along with electric vehicles and then applying that knowledge in Eugene. Basically, we’re trying to help electric vehicles be successfully implemented in the community.”
Among the electric vehicles and charging stations showcased will be local company Arcimoto, BRAMMO electric motorcycle, Shorepower and Coulomb Technologies -- both charging station manufacturers -- and the Lane County Electric Vehicle Association that will display its “BugEV.”
Sponsors for this event are the City of Eugene, EWEB, the University of Oregon’s Office of Sustainability, CPW and OTREC. Admission to the event is free. For further information, please contact Molly Promes at 541-346-3653.
About the University of Oregon
The University of Oregon is a world-class teaching and research institution and Oregon's flagship public university. The UO is a member of the Association of American Universities (AAU), an organization made up of the 63 leading public and private research institutions in the United States and Canada. The University of Oregon is one of only two AAU members in the Pacific Northwest.
Contact: Karen Johnson, AAA Communications, 541-346-3603, karenjj@uoregon.edu
Source: Sasha Fertig, graduate fellow, 541-346-3651, afertig@uoregon.edu; Molly Promes, graduate student researcher, 541-346-3653, mpromes@uoregon.edu
Links: http://cpw.uoregon.edu/; http://www.chargenw.com/; http://laneeva.org
Story by Emily Wilson
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