Hui asks feds to fund electric car-sharing project

Blue Planet Foundation said Wednesday the nonprofit is working to deploy an electric vehicle-sharing pilot program on Oahu.

Shem Lawlor, Blue Planet Foundation’s clean transportation director, said the organization will file an application at the end of this month seeking $3 million in federal funding through the U.S. Department of Energy to support the project, which will deploy roughly 70 EV car-sharing vehicles and an equal number of charging stations across 15 to 20 properties in Honolulu for a three-year pilot program.

Lawlor said the nonprofit submitted a concept paper in July to the Department of Energy and was encouraged to apply for the funding. The organization will know whether it will be awarded the funds by January. If funded, Blue Planet Foundation said, the pilot is expected to kick off in the first quarter of 2017.

The car-sharing project would allow members to rent an electric vehicle for a short amount of time, often hourly, and require them to return it to the same location.

“This particular model has a home parking stall,” Lawlor said. “You would need to join. As a member you would get a membership card and an account. It would be connected to your bank account or credit card. You would make a reservation on a smartphone or computer and swipe your card on the vehicle and return it to the same spot.”

Lawlor said the organization is in discussions with Zipcar, a Boston-based car-sharing company; Hawaiian Electric Co.; Ulupono Initiative, a social investment firm; and EV Structure, a Honolulu-based EV consulting and installation company.

Lawlor said the project would help Honolulu condominium and apartment buildings install EV charging infrastructure, increasing the number of charging ports available for residents. Each charging station would include two charging ports, one for the car-share vehicles and the other for common area charging.

“Many property owners are facing increasing pressure to install EV charging from their residents who have purchased EVs or who are looking to do so in the near future,” Lawlor said in a statement. “In fact, ownership of electric vehicles is growing faster than any other type of vehicle, and they are a key component of our 100 percent clean energy future.”

In July, there were 4,536 electric passenger vehicles in the state, an increase of 938 vehicles, or 26.1 percent, from the same month last year, according to the state Department of Business, Economic Development &Tourism.

Lawlor said that Blue Planet Foundation is looking to partner with condos with at least 100 units or office buildings, but would not exclude anyone who might be interested.

“The locations we are looking to ultimately implement, if we receive funding, would be determined by the properties that express interest,” Lawlor said.

Blue Planet said the project could lead to a reduction of 600 to 700 personal vehicles from Honolulu’s roads, eliminate more than 3 million vehicle miles traveled, and displace 160,000 gallons of gasoline annually by the end project.