On September 21st South Shore Clean Cities was busy preparing 13 THINK EVs to be awarded to 13 Northern Indiana towns. South Shore was awarded a grant from the state of Indiana to distribute the vehicles, while the state received funding for the vehicles from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

The vehicles are 100% electric, and thus do not have a tailpipe emitting air pollution. The vehicles are powered by an advanced lithium ion battery that permits the vehicle to have a 100 miles driving distance in one charge and a top speed of 68 mph. According to THINK, the cars are 4 times more energy efficient and 75% more cost-effective than traditional gasoline vehicles.

The vehicles can be charged to 100% in eight hours when using 110v outlet. NIPSCO has plans to invest $1 million for electric vehicle infrastructure, which will greatly allow the towns to further expand the vehicles' use. NIPSCO is currently hoping to install 10 charging stations in Northern Indiana, as well as providing financial incentives for home charging stations.

The towns seemed very excited to receive their THINK vehicles and couldn't wait to begin using them. Schereville Town Manager Bob Volkmann stated, "We will use this vehicle in a number of departments so it has a lot of exposure."

THINK is hoping that the vehicles will catch on and will be an option for American families. THINK, which is a Norway company that was created in 1991, has a manufacturing plant in Elkhart, IN where the 13 vehicles were made using all renewable parts.  (Source: NWI)

Towns receiving THINKs:

Cedar Lake

Chesterton

Crown Point

Dyer

Gary

Hammond

LaPorte

Michigan City

Schererville

Whiting

Angola

Elkhart

South Bend

The Alternative Fuel Vehicle (AFV) grant will be available to government entities, businesses, school corporations, institutions of higher education, health care facilities and not-for-profit agencies in Indiana. This is a chance for Clean Cities Members to jump-start their projects. Contact South Shore Clean Cities TODAY!

View the Program Guidelines and Announcement 

Eligibility is as follows:

• Applications are due 9/30/11
• Application Minimum is $40,000
• Application Maximum is $500,000
• No match requirement
• Projects must be completed by 1/31/12 (vehicles deployed in fleet)
• Majority of project activities must be located in Indiana. Vehicles may be used outside of Indiana, but must be based in Indiana.
• Vehicles must be owned and operated by applicant.
• Vehicles must be on-road alternative fuel vehicles as defined by the EPA and the Energy Policy Act
• Vehicles must be a part of a fleet of vehicles
• All applicants must provide a letter of support from at least one of the Department of Energy recognized Indiana Clean Cities Organizations (Greater Indiana Clean Cities Coalition or South Shores Clean Cities) and an individual within the organization eligible to enter into contracts on behalf of the organization (i.e. CEO, president, town council president, general counsel, etc.).
•  Fueling infrastructure for an alternative fuel must be currently operational or completed by June 30, 2012. If infrastructure is not currently operational, the applicant must provide details and assurances on the infrastructure completion. Assurances or contracts from all applicants on fueling location must also be included in the application if applicable. 
• For all other medium duty and heavy duty alternative fueled and advanced technology vehicles: $200,000 per vehicle.
• Vehicles that will be eligible under this area of interest are as follows
• On-road Light, Medium, and Heavy Duty Vehicles
• Following types of vehicles using alternative fuels as recognized by Energy Policy Act, Electric, Hydrogen, Mixtures containing up to 85 percent methanol or denatured ethanol, Natural gas, Fuel Cell Electric Vehicles, Electric Hybrid Vehicles and Hydraulic Hybrid Vehicle. Duel Fuel Vehicles; includes natural gas combined with diesel or regular gasoline. Must run 50% of the time on alternative fuel.
• Vehicle Incremental Cost Funding Limitations (not to exceed actual cost):
• For neighborhood electric vehicles: $2,000 per vehicle
• For light duty hybrid vehicles: $2,000 per vehicle
• For light duty fuel cell vehicles: $500,000 per vehicle
• For all other light duty alt fueled and advanced technology vehicles: $50,000 per vehicle
• For medium/heavy duty electric vehicles, and/or medium/heavy duty hybrids/plug-in hybrids powered exclusively by alternative fuels: $200,000 per vehicle
• For medium/heavy duty fuel cell vehicles: $200,000 per vehicle
• For all other medium duty and heavy duty alternative fueled and advanced technology vehicles: $200,000 per vehicle.
• For all light, medium, and heavy duty duel fuel vehicles: cost not to exceed $150,000 per vehicle
• In addition to the cost requirements listed above applications must adhere to the following.
• For new vehicle purchases, the grant money can be used for the cost differential between the alternative energy vehicle or an alternative energy component and its traditional counterparts.
• For alternative fuel vehicle retrofits, grant money can be used to cover the cost differential between the selected alternative energy vehicles and its traditional counterparts.

Be sure to still check out the guide if you're part of the 80% of Americans who will consider buying an EV when gasoline hits $5 a gallon; experts say that time will be right around the corner.

Sources:

TGDaily & BNET