Electric vehicles: They have been around for over 100 years, but are as fresh as tomorrow.   

To the extent we think about electric vehicles -- EVs -- we tend to view them as replacements in form and function for the family sedan.  In fact, EVs can take many forms and serve many functions.  They include low-cost, lower speed three and four-wheeled neighborhood cars well-suited for use around the city.  And electric motorcycles with more torque per pound than any Harley around.  Not to mention urban trucks to deliver mail and parcels, or electric vans to bring pizzas or plumbing parts to your house.  Or the electric bicycle that can carry you to work and back (often faster than your traffic-bound friends and neighbors), Even personal mobility devices like a Segway used by public safety officers.  The point is that there are a growing number of applications that electric vehicles are well-suited to perform.  And that they can do so in a cost-effective manner that markedly reduces carbon emissions.  The point is also that the time for EVs is now upon us; we Oregonians can lead the charge.

EVs are the way to go in Oregon for several reasons.
 
First, our state is renowned for its quirky, innovative policy reputation; we are often willing innovators and early adopters.  The move to battery electric vehicles and hybrid electric vehicles appeals to our pioneering spirit. 
 
Second, we Oregonians inhabit a special place of dramatic physical beauty that reinforces our sustainability, conservation, and environmental instincts.  Given the mounting evidence about global warming and the carbon contamination that comes from internal combustion engines, the quest for low- and no-emission vehicles is obvious.  Introducing and evaluating EVs of various size and purpose here simply makes sense. 
 
Third, approximately half of our electricity is generated from the Columbia River and a growing share of the energy portfolio comes from renewable sources.  Electric vehicles and their role in our power grid hold great promise. 
 
Fourth, our far-sighted land use laws, integrated transportation strategies, and interest in urban design and development have had us “kicking the tires” for some time now on new approaches to sustainable mobility.  So we have been organizing and formalizing and thinking about approaches that will help our businesses and citizens get ready for a new transportation model, with the move toward electric vehicles as an earlier enabler of the transition.
 
Finally, the last two years have been a time of active exploration for Oregon, a chance to take stock of its EV aspirations.  Faced with a new technology or innovation any organization essentially has three choices:  To ignore it, resist it, or adopt and leverage it.  Oregon is taking the third path because we are driven to reduce our carbon habit and do our part for climate change.  We have begun to build and supply EVs.  We have formed significant partnerships and entered discussions with EV interests within and outside our borders.  We have started to deploy needed infrastructure.   All of these activities will double down in the next two to three years.  That is ultimately why we have formed this site.

Our mission is to: 

• Connect the various interested communities around Oregon into an Oregon community of interest;
• Communicate timely information and activities relevant to the EV community of interest; 

• Convene stakeholders when significant planning is required or issues, questions, and impediments to our progress require deliberation and action; and,
• Capture strategic relationships that will help us incubate innovation, condition the marketplace, accelerate organizational learning, and keep Oregon on the front lines of the transformation to a sustainable mobility model.