Day: July 31, 2018

Press Release – Los Angeles County Joins Los Angeles Cleantech Incubator Electrification Partnership to Accelerate Progress Toward Zero Emissions Transportation by Time of 2028 Summer Olympic and Paralympic Games

Diverse Coalition of Businesses Including Auto Manufacturers BMW, BYD and Tesla Along with Utilities, Los Angeles County and LA Metro Commit More Than $1 Million to Collaborate with LACI on LA’s First-Ever Electric Vehicle Roadmap

LOS ANGELES (July 31, 2018) The Los Angeles Cleantech Incubator (LACI) today announced that the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors has voted to join the organization’s unprecedented Transportation Electrification Partnership (TEP) of local government leaders, utilities, regulators, and businesses. The TEP will collaborate to reduce statewide greenhouse gas emissions and regional air pollution by accelerating progress toward regional transportation electrification and statewide zero emissions goods movement by the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

The County will join the Leadership Group of LACI’s TEP, which includes California Air Resources Board (represented by Chair Mary Nichols), the Mayor of Los Angeles, LA Metro and utilities Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, Southern California Edison, and Pacific Gas & Electric. Gary Gero, Los Angeles County’s first-ever Chief Sustainability Officer, will serve as the County’s liaison to LACI.

LACI’s Roadmap will identify gaps in infrastructure, policy, technology, and funding and harness the power of its partners to push for solutions to accelerate for deployment ahead of the 2028 Olympic Games. The first iteration of the Zero Emissions 2028 Roadmap will be released in September 2018.

Following the vote by the Board, Los Angeles County Supervisor and Board Chair Sheila Kuehl said, “Everybody knows LA is the car capital of the country. We have the freeways and the pollution to prove it. Now it’s time to turn Los Angeles County into the global leader for the new clean economy of the future. This motion jumpstarts the vision to bring cleaner air and good sustainable jobs to the region.”

Communities in the Harbor Area and along the 710 freeway have shouldered the burden of our nation’s goods movement system and the polluted air that has come along with it,” continued Los Angeles County Supervisor Janice Hahn. “We know we need to invest in zero emissions technology and by joining the Transportation Electrification Partnership, Los Angeles County becomes part of an ambitious effort to drive our own future and make a zero-emissions transportation system a reality.”

Joining Los Angeles County, electric vehicle technology leaders BMW, PCS Energy, Itron Idea Labs, Tesla, BYD and Greenlots along with California State University, Northridge, and USC, Schwarzenegger Institute for State and Global Policy will also be founding or associate founding partners—each will also serve on the TEP Advisory Group.

“Not only do Olympic athletes need to breathe cleaner air and avoid the extreme heat the climate crisis is bringing to our region and state—the lungs and lives of future Angelenos demand it,” said LACI CEO Matt Petersen. “That’s why we are proud to announce our new partners at the County of Los Angeles along with the private sector to help accelerate zero emissions, transportation electrification by the time the world arrives here in 2028.”

Through unprecedented partnerships, LACI is positioned to be a powerful driver towards making Los Angeles a sustainable, smart city transitioning from its history as the car capital of the world to the zero-emission transportation capital of the world. In collaboration with LACI’s Leadership Group and its partners, LACI is developing a 2028 Zero Emission Roadmap, a detailed plan to accelerate shared goals for mobility and zero emissions transportation.

“The BMW Group is pleased to be part of the LACI Transportation leadership group alongside Los Angeles County and others,” said Simon Euringer, Vice President, BMW Group Technology Office USA. “As a longstanding leader in developing innovative solutions for urban mobility, the BMW Group recognizes the tremendous importance of collaboration as we work to transform mobility for the future. We look forward to working with Los Angeles County and our other partners in the Transportation Leadership group to bring the LACI Zero Emission 2028 Roadmap to life.”

“PCS Energy is excited to collaborate with LACI and other key stakeholders to accelerate the transition of our transportation system away from fossil fuels into the era of clean and affordable electric vehicles,” said Paul Jennings, Principal at PCS Energy, the largest commercial solar energy provider in Los Angeles County. “We see this sea change coming swiftly and our partnership with LACI in this effort will help support the integration of renewable energy early on with vehicle electrification to ensure a truly clean, zero emissions transportation system for Los Angeles.”

Roberto Aiello, Director of Itron Idea Labs, added, “The electrification of transportation is one of the biggest steps we can take to reduce carbon emissions and improve regional air quality—and if done right, it can also help add stability to an increasingly distributed electrical grid. Itron is proud to collaborate with other innovators to support healthier, cleaner cities as a founding member of the Los Angeles Cleantech Incubator Transportation Electrification partnership. With this collaboration, we are one step closer to helping create a more resourceful world.”

For more information, visit laci.org/transportation.

About LACI

The Los Angeles Cleantech Incubator (LACI) is a private non-profit organization creating an inclusive green economy by unlocking innovation (working with startups to accelerate the commercialization of clean technologies), transforming markets (through partnerships in transportation, energy and sustainable cities) and enhancing communities (through workforce development, pilots and other programs). Founded as an economic development initiative by the City of Los Angeles and its Department of Water & Power (LADWP), LACI is recognized as one of the most innovative business incubators in the world by UBI. In the past six years, LACI has helped 73 portfolio companies raise $184M in funding, $220M in revenue, create 1,700 jobs, and deliver more than $379M in long term economic value. Learn more at laci.org.

Media Contact:
Shawn Dhanak
517-449-0402
sdhanak@laci.org