Columbus, OH, March 7, 2018 - Smart Columbus today announced the recipients of $170,000 in rebates to fund the installation of electric vehicle charging stations at apartments and condominiums in central Ohio. Through the rebates, Smart Columbus hopes to expand access to electric vehicle charging and make electric vehicle ownership more attractive to central Ohio residents. The rebates were funded through the $10 million grant awarded to the City of Columbus by the Paul G. Allen Philanthropies, as the winner of the 2016 Smart City Challenge.

Rebates of up to $25,000 were awarded to four developers, servicing 11 multi-unit residential properties across the seven-county Columbus region. Rebates were awarded on a first come, first serve basis, taking into account geographic distribution of the applications. Developers and properties awarded rebates are:

Nationwide Energy Partners (NEP)
o 250 Liberty Street, Columbus, OH 43215

SP Plus Corporation
o 300 Neil Avenue, Columbus, OH, 43215
o 355 John McConnell Blvd, Columbus, OH, 43215
o 1125 Rail Street, Grandview Heights, OH 43212
o 191 Vine Street, Columbus OH 43215
o 44 E Chestnut Street, Columbus OH, 43215
o 808 Rail Street, Grandview Heights, OH 43212
o 425 N Front Street, Columbus OH, 43215

Casto
o 260 MCDowell Street, Columbus OH 43215

The Champion Companies
o 2183 Rushmore Lane, Sunbury, OH 43074
o 9000 Oak Village Blvd, Lewis Center, OH, 43035

"Up to 85 percent of electric vehicle charging happens at home, which can be convenient for homeowners, but less accessible for condo or apartment dwellers who don't control the power routed to their parking," said Michael Stevens, Chief Innovation Officer for the City of Columbus. "Through these rebates, we are encouraging developers to offer charging as an attractive amenity to residents. It will also help encourage electric vehicle adoption. Given the overwhelming response we received, we intend to continue this rebate program in 2018."

In 2015, 0.37 percent of cars sold in the seven-county region were electric vehicles. Through the Paul G. Allen Philanthropies grant, Smart Columbus plans to increase electric vehicle adoption to at least 1.8 percent by 2020 - a four-fold increase that would put more than 3,200 electric vehicles on the road in the region. In addition to making charging more accessible at residences, Smart Columbus has commissioned the Smart Columbus Ride & Drive Roadshow to educate drivers on the benefits of electric vehicles and is partnering with local car dealerships and automotive manufacturers to increase the availability of electric vehicle and plug-in hybrid electric vehicle models in central Ohio.

"Electric vehicles are fun to drive, inexpensive to operate and a great choice for our environment, but people living in apartments and condos are at a big disadvantage if they lack access to charging," said Sam Spofforth, Executive Director of Clean Fuels Ohio, which partnered with Smart Columbus to help administer the program. "These rebates will help make EVs ownership more possible for residents of multi-unit properties." Site work will begin in the first quarter of 2018. Recipients will be allotted one year to complete the installation of the EV charging stations.

"We're excited about bringing four EV parking chargers to River and Rich and Franklinton," said John Riat, Development Coordinator for Casto. "Building a clean and smart future for our city is important to us and we're happy to be able to offer this amenity to future residents of River & Rich."

Applications for the 2018 rebate program will be made available this summer.

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About Smart Columbus
The City of Columbus' Smart Columbus plan won the U.S. Department of Transportation (U.S. DOT) $40 million Smart City Challenge in June 2016 after competing against 77 cities nationwide to become the country's first city to fully integrate innovative technologies - self-driving cars, connected vehicles and smart sensors - into its transportation network. Columbus was also awarded an additional $10 million grant from the Paul G. Allen Philanthropies to accelerate the transition to an electrified, low-emissions transportation system. Aligned investments totaling more than $500 million have been made by the private, public and academic institutions in the region to support technology and infrastructure investments that upgrade Columbus' transportation network and help make Columbus the model connected city of the future. Smart Columbus is a regional smart city initiative co-led by the City of Columbus and Columbus Partnership that includes partnerships with The Ohio State University, Battelle, American Electric Power and many more.

For more information, visit the Smart Columbus website www.smart.columbus.gov