New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy said Monday that an interagency partnership has been designed to promote electric vehicle expansion through infrastructure buildout, an EV rebate program and other measures, with the goal of registering 330,000 zero emission vehicles by 2025.
"The New Jersey Partnership to Plug-In ensures that we are working collaboratively across state agencies and with our private sector partners, to not only meet, but exceed our goal of registering 330,000 electric vehicles in New Jersey by 2025," Governor Murphy said in a statement.
"This new initiative is part of our broader effort to make renewable energy solutions work for everyone in New Jersey," Murphy said.
The statewide partnership, underpinned by a memorandum of understanding, aims to build out the necessary infrastructure to support EV ownership as a means to improving air quality and reducing greenhouse gas emissions, according to the statement. The partnership will be led by the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities, New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection and the New Jersey Economic Development Authority.
Critical aspects of electrification that each agency will focus on include:
Mapping existing and planned charging infrastructure assets
Installing EV charging infrastructure throughout the state
Working with lawmakers to establish an electric vehicle rebate program to incentivize EV adoption
Creating an attractive corporate environment for ZEV-related primary and secondary companies
The NJBPU is scheduled to release a draft Energy Master Plan in June that will outline ongoing and potential new initiatives to achieve 100% clean energy by 2050, the agencies said in the statement.
New Jersey is the most traveled and densely populated state, and as a result transportation is the top source of greenhouse gas emissions, according to the MOU.
The transportation sector in New Jersey accounts for 71% of nitrogen oxide emissions as well as 42% of greenhouse gas emissions, according to a separate statement from the NJDEP.
VOLKSWAGEN SETTLEMENT
The transport sector accounted for 52% of New Jersey's 2016 carbon dioxide emissions, while power generation made up about 18%, according to the most recent US Energy Information Administration data available.
The DEP said Monday it is requesting approval from the Volkswagen Environmental Mitigation Trustee to disburse $16 million for the deployment of electric heavy-duty garbage trucks, school buses, and port-related vehicles.
The funding would be the DEP's second round of requests to access the state's $72.2 million share of federal settlements distributed to resolve claims that Volkswagen installed emissions defeat devices in vehicles it manufactures to emit air pollutants without being detected by emissions-testing programs across the nation, DEP said.
"These projects also will demonstrate the viability of using electric heavy-duty vehicles to improve air quality in urban areas and throughout the state," DEP Commissioner Catherine McCabe said.
As part of its first round of funding from the Volkswagen trust, the DEP earlier this year requested $11.2 million for charging stations and electric transit buses for NJ TRANSIT's use in Camden, the DEP said.
The New Jersey Partnership to Plug-In will also dedicate $7 million of Volkswagen settlement funds for EV fast-charging infrastructure. The state currently has 68 public direct current fast charging stations, according to an online map created by NJDEP Bureau of Energy & Sustainability.
Having 330,000 plug-in EVs on the road in New Jersey by 2025 would imply an 875 GWh annual load from EVs in the Garden State, up over 130% from the S&P Global Platts Analytics 2025 reference case for the state.
