The District is considering installing hundreds of charging stations for electric vehicles, but critical questions remain about how deep the city government should commit to an emerging technology.
There is a sense among some leaders that the government must have charging infrastructure in place to coincide with the mass production of electric vehicles. Other jurisdictions in the region have started that conversation as well.
"The city can jump-start the whole electric car thing by purchasing electric vehicles as part of our fleet replacement and putting some of the infrastructure in place to make it easier for citizens and businesses to use this technology," said John Lisle, spokesman for the D.C. Department of Transportation.
General Motors recently announced that the D.C. area would join California and Michigan as the initial consumer markets for the long anticipated 2011 Chevrolet Volt.
DDOT this month issued a "Request for Information" seeking suggestions from the private sector as to what the District's electric vehicle infrastructure should look like -- what types of charging stations to install, for example, where to put them and who should own them.
The District is leaning toward city ownership of most charging stations, sources say, at least those located in the public right of way. But no one business model has gotten the edge in a dynamic market.
Ben Lieberman, senior policy analyst in energy and the environment at the Heritage Foundation, said the private sector has a better track record in emerging technologies. Government at every level "has a knack to pick the loser" when choosing which technology to support, Lieberman said, adding there is no guarantee that if you build it, they will come.
"I don't see the benefit of the District moving ahead with something that's very iffy at this point," he said.
Arlington County Board Chairman Jay Fisette said his county is excited about the idea of electric vehicles and wants to be "at the cutting edge." The matter of infrastructure has come up in discussions of an updated street master plan, he said, but the county has no plan yet for putting the technology in place.
While it is early in the process, Fisette did say that public charging stations should be "very discreet" and "blend into the community."
"It's part of the new world we're going to be living in," he said.