Electric Vehicle Pilot Program Coming To St. Louis Senior Service Agency And Community Groups

St. Louis, Mo - The U.S. Department of Energy for Advanced Innovative Vehicle Technologies has selected Forth for funding to implement the St. Louis Vehicle Electrification Rides for Seniors (SiLVERS) Project, which seeks to increase electric vehicle adoption and reduce transportation-related operating expenses for social service agencies in low-income communities.

This pilot will demonstrate:

• EV fleets can save social service agencies money on transportation expenses and improve service
• Electric vehicle charging equipment for fleets can also serve employees and community members
• How use of EVs by service agencies can accelerate regional EV adoption
• The use of tools and best practices, which can be replicated nationwide
• How public agencies can equitably advance air pollution reduction through EV technology

The SiLVERS project emerged from work with Forth, NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council), the City of St. Louis, and Bloomberg Philanthropies through the American Cities Climate Challenge.

Forth will work with the City of St. Louis, the St. Louis Area Agency on Aging, as well as community organizations such as North Newstead Association, City Seniors, Inc, and Northside Youth and Senior Service Center, Inc. to introduce electric vehicles and charging to their fleets and meet the transportation needs of senior residents with zero-emission vehicles while developing community support and awareness of the program.

“We are honored and look forward to working with the City of St. Louis and all the partners involved in efforts to strengthen the St. Louis community through transportation electrification,” said Sergio Lopez, Program Manager at Forth.

Forth will bring together a number of industry and local partners in this project, including AmpUp, St. Louis Regional Clean Cities Coalition, and Ameren Missouri.

AmpUp will provide an EV charger sharing platform to serve fleet EVs, employees, and community members. AmpUp will perform data collection and analysis to develop a model of financially sustainable fleet electrification.

“AmpUp is excited to work with Forth, the St. Louis Clean Cities Coalition, and local partners to provide EV charging software solutions that will benefit customers and the wider St. Louis community.” said Tim Gavrilovic, Head of Business Development & Co- founder of AmpUp.

Forth and the St. Louis Regional Clean Cities Coalition will disseminate findings via webinars, conferences, and regional workshops to publicize results and entice additional cities, organizations, and agencies to adopt the model for their own fleets.

Ameren Missouri will provide incentives to develop the four charging station sites. Their Electric Vehicle Program offers incentives of up to 50% of project cost of installing EV charging stations at multifamily rental properties, workplaces, and public/retail locations around the region.

“The investments we will make in north and south St. Louis will show that electric vehicles are for everyone,” said Maurice Muia, Climate Advisor for the City of St. Louis, NRDC. “We all deserve the cleaner air that comes from use of clean cars.”

The project is scheduled to launch by the end of 2020 and to last three years. Forth and partners will be working with USDOE to refine plans, budgets, and contracts in the coming months.

Example of an electric vehicle to be possibly implemented by Forth. Photo courtesy of Forth.