June 1, 2022
Electric Vehicle Neighborhood at the Twin Cities Auto Show
Moaz Uddin is Great Plains Institute’s Electric Vehicle Policy Specialist and is a member of the Transportation & Fuels Team and Drive Electric Minnesota staff. The following blog is a…
May 10, 2022
Lakeville, Minnesota Electric School Bus Pilot
Photo courtesy of Great River Energy. All rights reserved. Lakeville, Minnesota, has piloted using electric school buses. Read more from Clean Energy Resource Teams.
March 29, 2022
Drive Electric Minnesota’s Fleet Electrification Toolkit is Live
Drive Electric Minnesota (DEMN) has released the Electrify Your Fleet tab to aid local governments through the decision-making process for electrifying their fleet vehicles and taking steps towards becoming electric vehicle ready. The Electrify your Fleet tab can be found on the DEMN website under Electric Vehicles.
March 2, 2022
Drive Electric Minnesota’s 2022 Legislative Priorities
Minnesota’s legislators have reconvened for the 2022 legislative session. Drive Electric Minnesota’s policy agenda continues to support electric vehicle (EV) adoption in the state. This policy agenda includes supporting EV purchase incentives, encouraging electric utilities to continue investing in EV programs for their customers, increased investment in electric transit buses, ensuring that EV owners are taxed fairly, supporting additional EV charging infrastructure, and more.
December 21, 2021
Connecting Cities Along Their EV Journey with the EV City Resource Database
Minnesota cities interested in electric vehicles (EVs) can now connect more easily to up-to-date resources on local governments who are becoming EV ready through a new database. The City Resource Database draws on learning from the Cities Charging Ahead! peer cohort efforts among Minnesota cities and tribal nations, facilitated by the Great Plains Institute and Clean Energy Resource Teams.
December 14, 2021
EVs in the Twin Cities: Carver
Carver, Minnesota is a town of about 5,200 people located in the Minneapolis-St. Paul metropolitan area and has recently made big strides in fleet electrification. I caught up with Erin Smith, the community development director for the City of Carver, to hear about the progress Carver has made in electrifying their fleet.
December 7, 2021
EVs in the Twin Cities: Woodbury
Woodbury, Minnesota, a city of about 75,000 people located in the Metro region of Minnesota and has adopted many electric vehicles (EVs) into their city fleet. I caught up with Jen McLoughlin, the sustainability specialist for the City of Woodbury, to learn about the city’s journey of electrifying its fleet. McLoughlin shares Woodbury's process and highlights how staff experience with EVs changed perceptions over time.
December 6, 2021
Electric Vehicle Programs in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill
In November, President Biden signed the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), the single largest infrastructure investment in American history. The bill includes significant funding at the federal and state levels for electric vehicles (EVs) and the infrastructure needed to support EV deployment. As state and local governments look to increase transportation electrification, this bill provides investment in several critical areas for deployment.
November 30, 2021
EVs in the Twin Cities: Eden Prairie
Eden Prairie, Minnesota, a suburb of about 64,000 people, is among the first wave of cities in the nation to use an electric vehicle (EV) as a patrol vehicle for the city’s police department. I caught up with Jennifer Hassebroek, the sustainability coordinator for the City of Eden Prairie, to hear about the city’s new patrol vehicle and their process of electrifying the city’s fleet.
November 29, 2021
Charging Medium- and Heavy-Duty Electric Vehicles: Plugging into the Future Part II
The medium- and heavy-duty electric vehicle (EV) market is growing. However, mass electrification of medium- and heavy-duty vehicles will require charging infrastructure and standards tailored to meet their high energy needs. Leaders have an opportunity to increase electrification of these vehicles and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by closing this infrastructure gap.