The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is uniquely positioned to take advantage of the potential opportunities provided under the Volkswagen Zero Emission Vehicle (ZEV) Fund to bring forward the next generation of zero emission vehicle technologies into the Pennsylvania transportation marketplace to benefit Pennsylvanian's citizens. Volkswagen will be investing $2.0 billion over the next 10 years in ZEV infrastructure and awareness pursuant to Appendix C of the Partial Consent Decree entered into by Volkswagen and approved by the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California on October 25, 2016. Under the Partial Consent Decree, Volkswagen will spend $800 million on ZEV Investments in California and the remaining $1.2 billion on ZEV investments in all other areas in the United States.
Of the $1.2 billion allocated to other areas of the United States, including Pennsylvania, Volkswagen (DBA, Electrify America) will spend $300 million through four 30-month investment cycles, unless otherwise approved by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Citizens, businesses, state and local governments, and others in Pennsylvania could benefit by planning ZEV infrastructure projects and providing public comments to Electrify America on the $1.2 billion ZEV Investment Commitment, which will serve to build a nationwide network of workplace, community, and highway vehicle charging infrastructure that is convenient and reliable while contributing to a reduction in NOx emissions from vehicles. VW’s National ZEV Investment Plan has been approved by the EPA.
VW’s National ZEV Investment Plan (public version)
Cycle 1 ZEV Investments
Electrify America’s Cycle 1 ZEV investment ends June 2019. You can find details of the plan on Electrify America's "Our Plan" webpage. The basic cycle 1 strategy was to focus charging station investments in target metro areas throughout the U.S., and along strategic highway corridors. In Pennsylvania, the cycle 1 investment focuses on the greater Philadelphia area, and highway corridors, such as I80 and I76 (turnpike). New stations will come online through June 2019.
DEP's comment letter on the cycle 1 investment strategy (PDF)
Cycle 2 ZEV Investments
Electrify America’s Cycle 2 investments will start July 2019 and end December 2021. The public comment period for this investment cycle concluded on March 1, 2018. The Electrify America submissions page has information on cycle 2. Electrify America was seeking locational data for new charging station investments, ZEV plans in states, and information on local policies and activities to increase ZEV adoption. The comment period is closed.
DEP's comments on the cycle 2 investment strategy during the open comment period (PDF)
How To Get Involved
Submit Your Project:
Directly through the Volkswagen ZEV website; or
- By contacting the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection at RA-EPPA-ZEVplans@pa.gov or 717.783.8411 to explain your proposed plans and projects.
DEP will then provide further direction. Benefits of submitting your project through DEP include adding value to your project by having DEP review, comment, offer support, and suggest partners and other opportunities that may enhance the chances of being considered for ZEV funding. DEP will review projects for quality assurance and may provide a letter of support.
DEP is particularly interested in promoting partnerships and projects that involve collaborations across states and regions. DEP envisions these projects as promoting critical infrastructure along transportation corridors connecting states and regions.
Should your project not be selected by Volkswagen to receive support from the ZEV Fund, DEP may be able to assist you by identifying other potential funding sources that could be used to deploy all or a portion of your project.
What is a ZEV?
Zero Emission Vehicles (ZEVs): Any on-road passenger car or light-duty vehicle, light-duty truck, medium-duty vehicle, or heavy-duty vehicle that produces zero exhaust emissions of all of the following pollutants: non-methane organic gases, carbon monoxide, particulate matter, carbon dioxide, methane, formaldehyde, oxides of nitrogen, and nitrous oxide. This includes but is not limited to battery electric vehicles ("BEV"); fuel cell vehicles; on-road plug-in hybrid electric vehicles ("PHEV") with zero emission range greater than 35 miles (as measured on the federal Urban Dynamometer Driving Schedule ("UDDS") in the case of passenger cars, light-duty vehicles and light-duty trucks, and 10 miles as measured on the federal UDDS in the case of medium- and heavy-duty vehicles), and on-road heavy-duty vehicles with an electric power take off.
ZEVs do not include: zero emission off-road equipment and vehicles; zero emission light rail; additions to transit bus fleets utilizing existing catenary electric power; or any vehicle not capable of being licensed for use on public roads.
See the Electrify America website for more information about Volkswagen's ZEV Fund.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
For additional information on financial support available through the Volkswagen ZEV Fund, please see the EPA FAQ document (PDF)
Contact DEP
If you have questions or comments, please contact: RA-EPPA-ZEVplans@pa.gov or 717.783.8411.