FUEL CELLS | EV LOAN PROGRAM | EV SACRAMENTO | EVs FOR EDUCATION

Fuel Cell Demonstrations
The California Air Resources Board (ARB) has been a strong supporter of hydrogen fuel cell vehicles because of their important environmental attributes and their ability to provide energy security and other key benefits to California. As part of ARB's work to promote and advance fuel cell technology, the agency partnered with two auto manufacturers in demonstration programs. In May of 2005, ARB accepted keys to a DaimlerChrysler F-Cell vehicle, and in October of 2005, keys to a Ford Focus fuel cell vehicle were provided to the ARB. Both vehicles will be used to collect real-world data to help the auto industry design the next generation of hydrogen-powered vehicles. Demonstration of these fuel cells also contribute greatly to the acceleration of Governor Schwarzenegger’s Hydrogen Highway initiative in California.



ev Loan Program
The ARB, the South Coast Air Quality Management District, and the Department of General Services created the ev Loan Program in 1998 to maximize public education about current and evolving clean vehicle technologies. The program provided state and local governmental agencies with an electric vehicle (EV) and charging infrastructure at no cost for up to one year. The initial goal was to increase EV leases, however, an expanded focus by automakers on other clean vehicle technologies resulted in fewer pure electric vehicles available to the public in the short term. Despite this set back for EVs, the ev Loan program continued to offer many other benefits. More than 200 agencies in California had an opportunity to experience electric vehicle technology in their fleets – exposure that is necessary for the success of all alternative fuel vehicles. In addition, 25% of the participating agencies used the EV for outreach and public education – an added benefit that furthers the clean transportation message.



ev Sacramento
In 1999 the California Air Resources Board and the Department of General Services partnered to develop an incentive program that would help public fleets in Sacramento lease EVs at competitive prices. By January of 2000, ev Sacramento placed nearly 100 EVs in Sacramento’s government fleets and installed 70 chargers in 30 new locations throughout the area. The program has now gone into it’s fourth year – extending leases on many of the initial vehicles, and deploying several new Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) vehicles into public fleets. ev Sacramento has been a huge success – providing governmental fleets with cheaper operating, fueling and maintenance costs and a non-polluting way of transportation.



EVs for Education
An important way to increase awareness of clean vehicle technologies, is to expose children to electric vehicles (EVs). Recognizing the importance of reaching the public early in life, the ARB launched EVs for Education in May 2000 to introduce EVs to school children throughout California. This program incorporated six Honda EV Plus vehicles into classroom educational programs by providing EVs to local air pollution control districts and education departments.

The goals of EVs for Education were to

1.	educate students (K-12 and college) on the value of clean air and the benefits of cleaner transportation technologies such as EVs;
2.	emphasize the connection between transportation and air pollution;
3.	show students what they can do to reduce air pollution; and 4) develop and test presentations and materials that help achieve the above goals.