Pasadena, CA – To fight smog and climate change, the City of Pasadena, in coordination with CALSTART, announced a new program today aimed expanding the use of electric cars by recruiting a new major ally – employers. With funding from Metro, the City of Pasadena rolled out a new program today that is aimed at getting more employees to drive electric cars and more employers to install chargers at the workplace.

For the city of Pasadena, CALSTART is managing a novel program that will allow employers who express an interest in workplace charging to provide extended test drives of Chevy BoltEV’s, and to receive assistance on how to best set-up and manage a workplace charging program. GreenCommuter is CALSTART’s partner and is managing the use of the cars. The official name of the innovative initiative being announced today is “Shared EV Employer Demonstration” (SEED).

“Despite a lot of great policies and programs, gasoline use in California is still increasing. We need to find new ways to accelerate the transition to zero emission cars and move away from our dependence on fossil fuels. Pasadena is showing real leadership with the SEED program by reaching out to and recruiting employers to help grow the electric vehicle market,” said John Boesel, President and CEO of CALSTART.

“Historically, providing energy for an employee’s car has not been the responsibility of an employer. However, we are living in new times and facing what Governor Brown has called an ‘existential threat’. Pasadena is taking a smart next step by reaching out to and getting employers to help lead the transition to a cleaner and better transportation energy future,” said Boesel.

Under the SEED program, employees can use a Chevy BoltEV for a two-week period. Employers are encouraged to provide charging and are eligible to receive technical assistance from CALSTART on how to implement an effective workplace charging program for its employees.

Most of the leading companies implementing workplace charging programs are based in Silicon Valley where competition for software engineers, who are among the leading purchasers of electric vehicles. Providing charging at the workplace has become almost a standard employee amenity among employers such as Google, Facebook, and Apple. The SEED program is significant in two ways. First, it helps to expand workplace charging beyond Silicon Valley, and, due to the funding from Metro, allows for employees to have access to extended test drives.

“Building on the very impressive workplace charging program offered by Caltech for its students and employees, this program has the potential to make Pasadena a model city for the Southern California region,” said Boesel.

The program uses six Chevy BoltEV’s, a car representing the next generation of electric vehicles because it costs less than $38,000 and has a range of more than 230 miles. CALSTART and GreenCommuter selected the Chevy BoltEV because its range and performance represent significant advancements over the cars that came to the market in the 2011-2016 period.