The Metropolitan Area Planning Council (MAPC) has launched CommunityEV Carshare, a pilot electric vehicle carshare program placing solar-powered charging stations and electric vehicles at four locations in Eastern Massachusetts currently underserved by carsharing services.
The program is funded by a $1 million Accelerating Clean Transportation for All grant from the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center.
The pilot brings together Zipcar’s electric vehicle carsharing service with Beam Global’s off-grid solar EV charging stations, which require no construction, electrical work, utility connection, or grid trenching.
Each Beam EV ARC unit generates and stores renewable energy on-site, producing up to 265 electric miles of clean energy per day and supporting up to 12 vehicle charging sessions daily.
“CommunityEV Carshare is a transformative approach to solving two of the most important issues facing MAPC’s region, transportation and climate change, by applying new transportation technology to increase equitable mobility and utilizing renewable energy infrastructure to reduce greenhouse gas emissions,” said MAPC Executive Director Lizzi Weyant in a statement.
The four locations include the MetroWest Regional Transit Authority headquarters in Framingham, the Chelsea Housing Authority, the Boston Housing Authority in Boston, and a site in downtown Quincy.
The pilot will run through December 31, 2027.
Read more here.
