Plug-In Bay Area's Mission

Plug-In Bay Area (PIBA) seeks to bring about the rapid commercialization of plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) by partnering with local governments and businesses to deploy plug-in demonstration projects, build vehicle charging stations, place fleet orders, establish employee purchase incentives and institute other creative mechanisms to increase and demonstrate demand for these cars.  An important way for municipalities and companies to promote PHEV technology is to build the charging infrastructure necessary to fuel plug-in vehicles cleanly.  Solar-powered charging stations, or solar fuel stations, power plug-in vehicles with 100% renewable solar energy for zero emissions driving. 

Take Action

Municipalities and businesses can join our Bay Area Solar Fuel Station Initiative by signing a Statement of Support and demonstrating support for regional efforts to build a Bay Area network of solar-powered EV charging infrastructure.  Please also see our toolkit, Plug-In the Nation:  A Guide to Building a Market for Plug-In Hybrid Electric Vehicles, for information on how to take action and promote plug-ins in your municipality or business community.

Solar Fuel Stations

Solar Charging for Zero Emissions Driving

Solar fuel stations charge plug-in electric vehicles with solar energy generated via photovoltaic panels mounted on carports or adjacent building roofs.  Both system designs can be outfitted so that electricity is fed back to the grid or the onsite host building if cars are not charging.

For more information on stations, see our solar fuel station brochure. (Image courtesy of Envision Solar.  Location: Kyocera Headquarters, San Diego, CA.)

Featured Solar Fuel Station:

City of Vacaville

In 2005, the City of Vacaville installed a public solar fuel station with six electric vehicle charging outlets at their Bella Vista Road Ride & Park Lot (pictured to the right), which is a short walk to bus connections for BART (Pleasant Hill), U.C. Davis, and Fairfield/Suisun.  Solar fuel stations located at transportation hubs are an ideal climate change solution:  Commuters ride public transportation while their vehicles charge via 100% renewable solar energy. 

Vacaville’s solar fuel station is a 45 kW photovoltaic system and generates enough clean renewable energy to meet all of the anticipated electrical demands of the six EV charging stations, lighting at the lot, and the irrigation controls for site landscaping.  Vendor:  Suntech Energy Solutions (previously E.I. Solutions).

If you are interested in learning how your municipality can build solar fuel stations, please contact Plug-In Bay Area's Coordinator, Sara Schedler, at (415) 544-0790, ext. 217, or sschedler@foe.org.

Government Partners

Plug-In Bay Area (PIBA) seeks to bring about the rapid commercialization of plug-in hybrid electric vehicles by partnering with local governments to deploy plug-in demonstration projects, place fleet orders, adopt supportive resolutions, build public charging infrastructure, and create incentives to support the adoption of electric vehicle technology.  PIBA has built a network of 113 local governments throughout the Bay Area and gathered a total of 657 pledges from cities and counties to buy plug-ins for municipal fleets when they become available.

Business Partners

PIBA is working with small local businesses as well as large high-tech and other companies to promote PHEV technology through initiatives that include partnerships, fleet orders, employee purchase incentives, and other creative mechanisms to increase and demonstrate demand for these cars. The Silicon Valley Leadership Group recently joined Plug-In Bay Area, and together with corporate member, Tom Hayse, CEO of Electromatic Inc., they are educating other companies about the benefits of this technology.

Bay Area Plug-In Partners

In the Bay Area, San Francisco, Oakland, Berkeley, Alameda, Santa Rosa, Hayward, San Jose, Fremont, Los Altos Hills, Ukiah, Palo Alto, Saratoga, Portola Valley, Sunnyvale, Windsor, Brentwood, Solano County, San Mateo County, Santa Clara County, and Marin County have joined the campaign and placed soft order pledges for fleets and/or filed resolutions supportive of plug-ins. They begin with our Partner Packet. Marin County was the first Bay Area municipality to place a fleet order for the vehicles. Plug-In Bay Area urges other cities and counties to follow Marin’s lead!

Check Out Our Partner Map

Click on the green icons below for more information on the resolutions and soft order pledges filed by our partner cities, counties and towns. 


View Larger Map

Where the Road Will Lead Us

Our vision is that plug-in hybrids will run off green electricity and domestically produced cellulose biofuels for zero emission, gas-free driving.  By adding a plug, we can wean ourselves off of oil and fule our vehicles with electricity.  Electricity, unlike gasoline, has the potential to be sustainably produced by greening the source.  We will further reduce the energy footprint of PHEVs by ensuring that we plug our cars into a green electric grid, powered by renewable sources such as solar and wind.  Additionally, we envision replacing the internal combustion engine with a flexible fuel engine that can run on sustainable, domestically produced cellulosic biofuels.  Green your ride and green your grid.  Support plug-in hybrids!

A Simple Thing

Plug-in hybrids are featured in the book "50 Simple Things You Can Do to Save the Earth" as the very first entry.

Read "Issue #1: Bring Back the Electric Cars".

 

New Partners and Cleaner Fleets

Marin County, Berkeley, the City of Alameda, Los Altos Hills, and Sunnyvale are leading the effort among Bay Area municipalities by asking automakers to supply their fleets with plug-in hybrids. Although the cities will not be able to switch their fleets over to plug-ins until the automakers commit to producing them, these cities are demonstrating their preference for higher fuel-efficiency and cleaner vehicles. We applaud their leadership.

Downloads

Community Petition Form | Commitment Form | Fleet Order Form