Drive Clean Louisville
Drive Clean Louisville is a cross-departmental program with the goal to increase usage and ownership of alternative fuel vehicles and clean engine technologies in Louisville.
The Drive Clean team plans for and explores opportunities related to electric vehicles and clean fuel transportation for our government and community. The team develops projects for grant funding and policy development with a focus on reducing tailpipe emissions from light- and heavy-duty mobile sources throughout Louisville/Jefferson County. This includes strategies to increase cleaner alternatives to traditional fossil fuels (i.e. gasoline and diesel) and/or engines that include the most effective emission control technologies.
The Drive Clean team's vision is for Louisville to be a community that embraces alternative fuel vehicles (AFV). Residents will be more informed about the benefits, both economic and environmental, of AFV usage, and commerce will be powered through clean engines with Louisville Metro Government leading by example through the implementation of a clean fleet.
Green Fleet Challenge
The Green Fleet Challenge aims to collaborate with local organizations to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and improve local air quality by collectively increasing the number of battery electric vehicles (BEVs) or plug-in hybrid vehicles (PHEVs) in our fleets. Collectively increasing the green vehicles in our fleets will not only improve air quality and overall health for all Louisville residents, but it will help improve awareness and availability of electric vehicles and charging infrastructure aid a community-wide transition to green vehicles.
If you are a local organization interested in participating in the Green Fleets Challenge, please submit a short interest form and our team will be in touch soon. You may learn more about the requirements, benefits, and more by reading through this introductory presentation on the Green Fleet Challenge or emailing the Drive Clean team through this form.
Driving Electric Together
On October 1, 2021, the Drive Clean Team hosted Driving Electric Together, a free, virtual event featuring local leaders in making the switch to electric vehicles. The event featured local electric fleet success stories, a guide to local resources, and a panel of experts that answered questions on what it takes to make the switch to electric. You can find some videos featured with the event below.
EV Survey Final Report
In 2017, Louisville Metro Government conducted an Electric Vehicle (EV) Survey to better understand challenges to the promotion and adoption of EVs in Louisville. The survey generated more than 500 responses and identified the cost of purchasing EVs, concerns about driving range, and the availability of charging stations as the largest barriers to increasing EV adoption. Metro Government also created a crowd-sourcing application in conjunction with the survey to identify locations for future charging station infrastructure. More than 200 respondents helped identify dozens of locations around the city, including sites within local parks, high schools, libraries and shopping centers. Metro Government will use this information to explore different ways to incentivize electric vehicle ownership, expand EV charging infrastructure, and increase public outreach about EVs.
Volkswagen Settlement
On Jan. 4, 2016, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency alleged that the automaker Volkswagen violated the Clean Air Act by selling approximately 590,000 diesel vehicles built with software to cheat during federal emission tests. Volkswagen later agreed to two partial settlements in 2016 and a third in 2017, and the U.S. Department of Justice resolved the case after a plea agreement. The three settlements require Volkswagen to spend up to $14.73 billion on customer compensation, pollution mitigation and zero emission vehicle investment. The first partial settlement requires Volkswagen to invest $2 billion in building Zero Emission Vehicle charging infrastructure and promoting Zero Emission Vehicles. Read the full details of the Volkswagen settlement.
Electrify America
A for-profit company, Electrify America was formed as part of the VW Zero Emission Vehicle (ZEV) Settlement. Under the settlement, Electrify America will “be a catalyst for promoting ZEV adoption by offering transformative customer-centric infrastructure and energy management solutions.” Electrify America will also promote ZEV adoption by investing $2 billion in ZEV infrastructure and education programs throughout the U.S. Read more about Electrify America on their website.
Kentucky Initiative
Aside from the $12.3 billion consumer compensation and ZEV programs, Volkswagen must also pay $2.7 billion to an Environmental Mitigation Trust Fund. Kentucky expects to receive $20.3 million from the Fund over the course of ten years. Recently, the Kentucky Energy and Environmental Cabinet released a proposed Beneficiary Mitigation Plan. The plan outlines how Kentucky will use its portion of money from the Environmental Mitigation Trust Fund to reduce NOx emissions. Read more on Kentucky’s proposed Beneficiary Mitigation Plan.
Contact Us
Send the Drive Clean team an email through this form if you have any questions or ideas.
Media
Resources
- EVolveky: Kentucky's Own Electric Vehicle Group
- LG&E EV Information, including a marketplace comparison tool
- Guide to Understanding the 5 Different Types of Electric Vehicles
- LG&E/KU Installs Vehicle Charger at Seneca Park
- Oklahoma to Build 110 EV Charging Stations in 2020
- Alternative Fuel Corridors in the U.S.
- U.S. Department of Energy Alternative Fuels Data Center
- Union of Concerned Scientists: "What Are Electric Cars?"
- CNN: GM and Bechtel plan to build thousands of electric car charging stations across the U.S.
