Friday, December 14, 2012

Electric Cabs will not be coming to Arlington County, VA.



The Arlington County Board voted against a recommendation to place 40 electric taxicabs on area streets in what could have been the first all-electric taxi fleet in the US. EVA/DC members Eric Cardwell and Lanny Hartmann were at the meeting when they voted.

Board member Jay Fisette initiated the motion to award 40 taxi certificates to EV Taxicabs. Fellow board member, Libby Garvey, supported the motion.

In his remarks, Mr. Fisette said, "the bulk of the testimony, the bulk of the letters have been supportive of the Manager's recommendation around the EV cabs. I see this as a very effective leveraging of resources through a public / private partnership." He added, "This is exactly the kind of innovation, the kind of opportunity that is needed for us to meet the goals we've adopted in the community energy plan to date around reducing greenhouse gases, competitiveness and energy security."

Dissenting board member, Chris Zimmerman, remarked, "I don't think we, at this point, know for sure exactly how that technology is going to shake out, and so the concerns of the Transportation Commission resonated with me."

Walter Tejada thanked the speakers who gave public testimony in the prior meeting. He said, "there was a lot of good information shared and I appreciate it, particularly those who currently own electric vehicles." "I have questions about the infrastructure... "I feel though, that with the infrastructure, that [it] is currently not in place to support electric vehicles yet."

Mr. Fisette retorted, "There is no question that we do not have the infrastructure and part of this application's strength was that, in fact, after the end of two years we would, without any public investment."

All the board members seemed to agree that electric vehicles may be the way to go in the future. The next consideration for adding more taxicabs in Arlington County will be in two years.

EVA/DC members, Dave Goldstein, Jeffrey C. Jacobs and Joseph Lado joined us as we gathered nearby after the vote.

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