$1 million in Federal Funds for Advanced Vehicle Development in “Texas Triangle”

CCET will receive $500,000 to advance a plan for plug-in electric vehicle charging infrastructure between the "Texas Triangle" cities of Austin/San Antonio, Houston/Galveston, and Dallas/Fort Worth. CCET is a non-profit corporation that facilitates collaboration among technology companies, universities, and the electric industry for the purpose of modernizing and enhancing the Texas electric transmission and distribution system.

The City of Austin will receive $499,782, which will be used by Austin Energy to develop processes and procedures to enable efficient and cost-effective placement of charging infrastructure between San Antonio and Georgetown. Several electric entities, from CPS in San Antonio to Bluebonnet Electric Cooperative in Bastrop, will collaborate on this project.

 "This grant further proves that Austin and San Antonio are taking the wheel and driving us away from the fuels of the past and toward an advanced vehicle future," said Rep. Doggett.  

"Modern electric vehicles offer all the comfort, safety and convenience of their gasoline counterparts, save one thing—range limitations. The infrastructure to rid the consumer of "range anxiety" will cure that problem. Our Texas effort will lead the nation in developing the needed infrastructure to support electric vehicle travel among our major cities, and we'll clean up the smog along the way," said Dr. Milton Holloway, President and COO of the Center for the Commercialization of Electric Technologies. 

"We're really proud to have our leadership recognized by the Department of Energy," said Karl R. Rábago, Vice President of Distributed Energy Services at Austin Energy. "This money will support critical work that we can't afford to do ourselves. It is the federal government doing what the federal government does best, which is provide us with the means to collaborate to get Central Texas ready for electric vehicles."