SPOKANE, Wash. — You may soon be able to get behind the wheel of an electric vehicle without the high price tag of buying one.
Electric vehicle cooperative ZEV Co-op is looking to expand its service, currently only available on the west side of Washington state, to Spokane.
While there are plenty of options to get from point A to point B in the city, Kelly Thomas says this one would help bring Spokane to Point E-V.
“It’s a pilot program that would give Spokane the opportunity to bring some carshare electric vehicles to the city," Thomas, the interim manager for sustainability initiatives for city council said.
ZEV's zero-emission carshare service also checks a goal in the city's sustainability action plan.
“It specifically was talking about encouraging rideshare companies that were electric to come to the city and start a program here," Thomas said. "So here it is, here’s the program and here’s the opportunity.”
According to a presentation by ZEV, the general public could rent an EV for $16 an hour with a monthly use fee of $20, or pay $128 for a full-day rental. There's also an income-qualified rate that's cheaper and users can also opt into a membership for a $500 one-time equity fee and pay less per hour.
“So the goal is not just to bring electric vehicles into the city for sharing purposes but to target underrepresented communities and get a price point that’s amenable," Thomas said.
“Pilot would go for about two years but it’s designed to be a self-sustaining model so it’s like REI, it’s a co-op and so it’s open to the public but there’s membership opportunities that would lower the cost,” said Mason Burley, the CEO of nonprofit civic research group Urbanova.
Urbanova has been working with ZEV and Avista for about a month, Burley says, to bring the pilot program here. For that first two years, ZEV would offer two rental depots with around four cars where users could rent and return the vehicles. Right now final sites haven't been selected, but Burley says they're looking at sites near Gonzaga, West Central or East Central.
“Part of the grant criteria is serving underserved neighborhoods and rural areas as well with rideshares," he said, adding that some of the sites already have the EV charging infrastructure.
ZEV has applied for a WSDOT zero-emissions access program grant, with the backing of Spokane City Council. That could fund up to $200,000 to jumpstart the service in Spokane, with Avista providing a 10% match.
For now, other costs of starting up are still being determined, Burley said.
“We’ll hear this summer and then hopefully implementation in the fall if we’re awarded," he added.
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