Kelly Yearick, Program Manager at Forth gave this presentation at the electrified community carsharing webinar on January 26, 2021

1. Bringing Electric Carshare to
Rural Communities
Kelly Yearick, Program Manager
January 26, 2021
The Clean Rural
Shared Electric
Mobility Project
(CRuSE)
Photo @Dylan VanWeelden

2. • Transportation options are often limited in rural communities
Shared mobility and micromobility have the potential to supplement public
transportation + private car ownership
• Electric vehicles offer significant air quality and fuel savings benefits but awareness
and infrastructure are often lacking in rural communities
• Private carsharing companies rarely exist outside of densely populated urban areas
• Access to carsharing platforms can be limited due to:
Language barriers
Technology barriers
Lack of affordability/payment requirements
The Challenge

3. Objectives
Program Overview
• Develop, demonstrate and refine
an electric vehicle carshare in
Hood River, Oregon
• Collect and analyze to define a
financially sustainable model
• Disseminate results for
replication in other rural
communities
• Preliminary utilization rate: 5
hours/car/day
This material is based upon work supported by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) under the Award Number DE-EE0008882. This report was prepared as an account of
work sponsored by an agency of the United States Government. Neither the United States Government nor any agency thereof, nor any of their employees, makes any warranty, express or implied, or assumes any legal
liability or responsibility for the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of any information, apparatus, product, or process disclosed, or represents that its use would not infringe privately owned rights. Reference herein to any
specific commercial product, process, or service by trade name, trademark, manufacturer, or otherwise does not necessarily constitute or imply its endorsement, recommendation, or favoring by the United States Government
or any agency thereof. The views and opinions of authors expressed herein do not necessarily state or reflect those of the United States Government or any agency thereof.

4. • Collaborate with community partners to introduce an electric vehicle carshare
comprised of:
Five plug-in electric vehicles
Five electric vehicle charging stations dedicated to each vehicle
Five distinct sites throughout Hood River to provide access for affordable housing
residents, City employees, tourists, and community members
• Reduce barriers to participation through:
Spanish language version of carsharing application and communications materials
Tiered pricing structure
Alternative payment mechanisms
• Collaboration with Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and Columbia Willamette
Clean Cities Coalition to collect, analyze, and disseminate results
Approach
Program Overview

5. Progress To Date
Q2 2020 Q3 2020 Q4 2020 Q1 2021
Q1 2020
Stakeholder
outreach
Site
assessments
Secure
contractor
Secure
vehicles &
charging
stations
Sites finalized
Transportation
survey
distributed
Survey
complete
Charging
station installs
began
Complete
charging
station
installations
Platform
testing to
prepare for
public
launch!

6. • First charging station installed this
month
• Recruiting community ambassadors
to support testing + rollout
• Coordinating press releases and
communications with project
partners
• Aiming for full public project launch
in Q2 2021
First win of the year!
Preparing for a launch