Oregon Charges Ahead in Standardizing Plug-In Parking

The state of Oregon issued an RFP (request for proposals) last week asking for companies that make public electric-car charging stations to submit their systems for consideration in the state’s green transportation plans. The state already has a bunch of stations, mostly in the Portland metro area, but it wants to increase that number to hundreds and spread the EV love as far and wide as possible.

The Oregon Department of Transportation was authorized to ramp up the curbside charging program last November, including standardizing the look, performance, and safety of the chargers. Also, they’d like to buy in bulk to make things easy, so charging stations built by hand in the family garage likely aren’t going to cut it.

The chargers won’t be limited to curbside parking. ODOT envisions them at park-and-ride locations, retail parking lots, and motor pools, among others. Of course, Good Green Cars already covered the unveiling of a curbside charger in Oregon City last fall.