The Oregon Coast Visitors Association wants businesses on the coast to take advantage of federal and state dollars to install electric vehicle infrastructure.
Coastal businesses of all types that are currently installing EV charging stations or those looking to pay for charging stations they've already installed this year are eligible for up to $30,000 by claiming the 30C Alternative Fuel Infrastructure Tax Credit on their federal tax returns this tax season. Charging stations must be installed by December 31, 2022 for the federal incentive.
Businesses that operate fleets of medium to heavy duty vehicles that install Level 2 and Level 3 chargers are eligible for a portion of the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality's Zero-Emission Fueling Infrastructure Grant.
Finn Johnson, coastal tourism resiliency coordinator for Oregon Coast Visitors Association, says as consumer demand changes the coast must keep up to maintain tourism numbers.
He says at present, coastal towns don't have the infrastructure for numerous electronic vehicles to charge.
"Consumers are switching rapidly towards EV cars, and so a lot of those cars that are going to be coming to the coast are going to be electric vehicles. There's going to be wait lines, bottlenecks, Right now we have a bit of a chance to be proactive. We can work on installing electric vehicle infrastructure before we start seeing people choose not to travel to the coast," said Johnson.
Level 2 charging stations take about 4 to 6 hours to charge a vehicle and cost between $1 to $16-thousand dollars.
Level 3 chargers take about half an hour to charge a vehicle depending upon the size of the vehicle and costs up to $150-thousand dollars.
For more information, email resiliency@thepeoplescoast.com or dieselgrants@deq.oregon.gov.
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