The Automotus team is thrilled to share that we’re part of the team awarded a nearly $4M grant by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to test and evaluate curb management strategies as a means to reduce emissions and accelerate advancements in zero-emissions vehicles. This is the first grant ever awarded by the DOE for a curb management project, which marks a huge vote of confidence for our solutions and the critical role they play in helping our country reduce emissions and decarbonize the transportation sector.
Our project team includes the Los Angeles Cleantech Incubator (LACI - team lead), National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), Carnegie Mellon University (CMU), University of Southern California (USC) METRANS Transportation Center, Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG), and Automotus, who will provide all the curb management technology.
We will work together to build upon two of our existing curb management projects in Los Angeles, CA and Pittsburgh, PA, including the nation’s very first zero-emissions delivery zone in Santa Monica, CA, and focus additional deployments in disadvantaged communities and environmental justice areas, which suffer disproportionate environmental, health, and economic impacts from increasing congestion and emissions. Our collective goal is to provide cities across the country with a roadmap for using curb management as a tool to incentivize adoption of commercial EVs, accelerate electrification, improve efficiency, and tackle social equity issues in the transportation sector.
This project is one of 24 research and development projects awarded a total of $60M by the DOE’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) Vehicles Technology Office (VTO). All projects focus on reducing CO2 emissions from passenger vehicles and light- and heavy-duty commercial vehicles.
For more information, you can check out the DOE’s official announcement here.