August 2024 Newsletter Drive Clean Indiana

Clean Fuels, Clean Air, Clean Cities and Communities

A Final Cheers to 25 Years

South Shore Clean Cities rebranded as Drive Clean Indiana when it went statewide, and now its annual sustainable transportation conference is getting a new name and brand identity too" - NWI TImes

Drive Clean Indiana, which is Indiana's only U.S. Department of Energy-designated Clean Cities and Communities coalition, is renaming its annual technology conference & expo; The REACT Expo. An acronym for Renewable Energy & Advanced Clean Transportation, to reflect the focus towards the future of clean transportation and recent advancements in sustainable energy technology.

Drive Clean Indiana will celebrate its 25th anniversary at the conference on Nov. 19-20 at Blue Chip Casino's Stardust Event Center.

REACT Expo Sponsorship Opportunities

Fuel of the Month

Natural Gas

Natural gas is a domestically produced alternative fuel that is readily available to end-users through the utility infrastructure. It can produce significantly fewer harmful emissions than gasoline or diesel when used in natural gas vehicles. Natural gas is a mixture of hydrocarbons, predominantly methane (CH4). As delivered through the pipeline system, it also contains hydrocarbons such as ethane, propane and other gases such as nitrogen, helium, carbon dioxide, hydrogen sulfide and water vapor.

Member of the Month

NIPSCO

NIPSCO's fully electric Ford Lightning F150 fleet vehicle

On August 21, 2024, the Northern Indiana Public Service Company (NIPSCO) was nationally recognized at the 2024 Green Transportation Summit & Expo (GTSE) in Tacoma, Washington, for its participation and outstanding achievement in providing workplace EV charging through the U.S. Department of Energy's EMPOWER Program. NIPSCO's employee-facing EV Charging Station at their Corporate Headquarters in Merrillville, IN, was developed with the experienced coaching of Drive Clean Indiana.

CONGRATULATIONS and THANK YOU, NIPSCO for being a proud and supportive Diamond Member

Board Member Spotlight

Jennifer Sanders

Jennifer Sanders is the Public Information Manager for Envirotest Corporation/Opus Inspection, Indiana’s contractor for vehicle emissions testing. In her position she oversees public relations, education, outreach, and customer service activities for the Clean Air Car Check emissions testing program. Jennifer has served as a Board Member for Drive Clean Indiana since 2006. Since graduating from Purdue University Calumet with a degree in Public Relations, Jennifer has worked as a communications professional for 15 years in both the public and private sector.

Safer Roads and Cleaner Air"

Coast-to-Coast EV Road Trip Visits Drive Clean Indiana

Live Green Connecticut Executive Director, Daphne Dixon embarked on her third annual Coast-to-Coast Electric Vehicle (EV) road trip early August and traveled 4,000 miles from Norwalk, Connecticut to Tacoma, Washington in a 2024 Chevy Equinox.

The annual road trip’s mission is to spread EV awareness and education while promoting accessibility for EV charging stations. Dixon will make 30 stops across the country as she completes charging station site assessments. "Our goal is to look at the user experience, identify any challenges and barriers people might be having, and provide solutions to those barriers," Dixon said.

Drive Clean Indiana greeted Dixon and her team at the GO Electric Vehicle Indiana (GOEVIN) charging station in the South Shore Convention Visitors Authority parking lot on August 6 and again at their finish line in Tacoma, Washington.

Thanks for stopping by, Daphne!

Charging and Fueling Infrastructure (CFI) Grant

$521 million in awards across the U.S. to continue the build out of EV charging and alternative-fueling infrastructure in communities across the country, along designated highways, interstates, and major roadways. This will fund EV charging and alternative-fueling infrastructure in 29 states.

$321 million designated for 41 projects that expand all types of EV infrastructure in communities, including Level 2 and DC fast chargers.
$200 million for building out fast charging projects along designated Alternative Fuel Corridors.

Learn more about the MACOG CFI Grant

Clean Air Day with the RailCats

Partners for Clean Air Northwest Indiana's Clean Air Day at Gary Southshore RailCats Game on August 18 was a HOME RUN!

Congratulations to the winners of the bicycle giveaways during each inning!

Did you know just moderate increases in bicycle use each year could save an estimated 6 to 14 million tons of CO2?"

Interested in becoming a Partners for Clean Air member?

Venture Logistics Shows Off New "WAVE" Induction Charging

Indianapolis-based Venture Logistics reveals a new charging technology for medium to heavy-duty electric vehicles, an inductive charging pad that can take an electric truck from empty to fully charged in 20 minutes. EV truck and bus drivers only need to drive the front of their vehicle over the pad for the charging to begin. The pad currently sits at Venture Logistics‘ warehouse in Lafayette, Indiana.

Read the full article

Through the VW settlement, Venture Logistics was awarded with $520,463 for the replacement of 2 deisel terminal tractors with zero-emission terminal tractors.

Image of Lafayette Limo's current fully electric demo TEMSA TS45E. Lafayette Limo is testing this unit in associated with the Indiana VW settlement award from IDEM. They received $965,466 towards replacing an existing deisel unit with a zero-emmision transit bus.Cummins is provide a mobile charger for this demo.

Drive Clean Indiana displays at Electrify Indiana; Joining stakeholders from the state's utilities, DCI was able to share and educate attendees with information through the GOEVIN program about electrifying the Crossroads of America.

Learn more about GOEVIN

Household Vehicles Were Parked 95% on a Typical Day in 2022

Household vehicles were driven an average of 64.6 minutes on a typical day in 2022 (including all trips made that day) and parked for the remainder of the time (95%). Drivers in all Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs) averaged between 61 minutes and 68 minutes per day with the longest driving time of 67.6 minutes for those in MSAs with 1-3 million people. Household vehicles being parked for 95% of a 24-hour day offers opportunity for EV charging.

Learn more

A Driver Can Easily Get More Miles from an Hour of Level 2 Charging while their EV is Parked than the Average Person Drives in a Day

A driver can easily get more miles from an hour of level 2 charging while their light-duty EV is parked and plugged into a charger than the average person drives in a day. Most EV charging is Level 2 which provides about 25 miles of range per hour of charging. According to the 2021 National Household Travel Survey (NHTS), the national average driving distance is 19.9 miles per day. This holds true both for drivers living in rural areas, who drive an average of 24.3 miles per day, and those in densely populated urban areas who drive 17.8 miles per day. The speed of modern DC fast charging (350 kW+) provides approximately 100-200+ miles of range per 30 minutes of charging.