Route 7 is now an EV Corridor as officially designated by the U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Highway Administration (FHWA). These alternative fuel corridor (electric is only one of them) designations are intended to raise awareness among current EV owners and the public at large of the access to nearby charging. This is part of a strategy to promote interstate cooperation and a national build out of charging corridors. All corridor designations have to be re-certified every 5 years. This designation currently applies to the section of Route 7 from the I-95 interchange to New Milford.

Along with the designation, the ceremony held at Fodor Farm in Norwalk also acknowledged the donation of a level 2 charging station by JuiceBar, a Connecticut manufacturer (based in Norwalk) of EVSE.

The presenters were (left to right):

Tammy Thornton, Wilton Go Green

Barry Kresch, President, EV Club of CT

Senator Bob Duff (Majority Leader)

Carlo Leone, CT Department of Transportation

Mayor Rilling of Norwalk

Daphne Dixon, President of Live Green CT

First Selectman Dunn of Brookfield

First Selectman Marpe of Westport

Senator Will Haskell (Transportation Committee co-Chair)

Paul Young of JuiceBar

The photo above shows the governor meeting with Bruce Becker, Analiese Paik, and Barry Kresch of the EV Club of CT. This was a meeting about how the environmental community can more effectively mobilize to support a progressive environmental agenda.

SB 127 – Permit EV Exclusive Manufacturers to Sell Direct in CT

A virtual public hearing was held yesterday by the legislature for this bill. Both written and oral comments were solicited.

Of the 76 written comments and a full day of Zoom testimony, every consumer that testified was in favor of passing this bill. Not really a surprise that consumers support a consumer-friendly bill. It is still opposed by dealerships and the OEMs. Nothing has changed.

It is difficult to read the tea leaves regarding the impact of testimony, pro or con. The bill has to pass a committee vote and then be called for a vote in both chambers. We are encouraged by the large number of comments submitted and the support we are receiving.

Judging by the response in the testimony, constituents are sending a message: protecting the environment is important and consumer choice is important, more important than protecting outdated laws.

Special thanks to Senator Haskell and Representative Steinberg who submitted the bill, as well as Representatives Wood and Michel who came on board as co-sponsors.

This is a link to the full (7.5 hours) video which is posted to the Transportation Committee’s YouTube Channel.

Some relevant time-stamps:

Tesla – 1:29:58

Lucid – 5:13:56

Rivian – 6:39:27

Senator Will Haskell (bill sponsor) – 2:30:19

Mike Liebow (Tesla Owners Club) – 5:30:46 – And check out his pointed comments here

Leadership of EV Club CT:

Analiese Paik – 5:35:42

Paul Braren – 6:52:13

Barry Kresch – 7:10:40

Beats Netflix!

Thanks to all who were involved in this effort. And let’s keep at it.

Paul Braren also wrote a detailed and thoughtful piece on his blog.