The California Energy Commission awarded $1.5 million to a partnership of eight organizations including the Center for Transportation and the Environment (CTE) to establish the Northern California Center for Alternative Transportation Fuels and Advanced Vehicle Technologies (NorthCAT) program.  The NorthCAT team will develop the physical space and institutional arrangements (the "infrastructure") for the education, training, demonstration, and full-scale deployment of alternative transportation fuels and advanced vehicle technologies in the Northern California region."

CTE joins an impressive group of partners with a wide range of experiences and backgrounds in energy conservation, alternative fuels, and clean transportation," said CTE Director of West Coast Operations Jaimie Levin. "This will enable us to greatly expand our program activities in alternative fuels, as we leverage the resources of NorthCAT to advance the commercialization of clean, sustainable transportation alternatives."

This grant will support the initial set-up and operation of the proposed center. Separately funded efforts will be added starting in 2014, creating a suite of activities that offer clients education, training, project facilitation and project pilot/deployment/evaluation services. These new NorthCAT activities will build upon a multitude of existing activities in which the NorthCAT project team is already engaged.Project partners include:

• University of California-Berkeley Institute of Transportation Studies, Richmond Field Station (RFS) in Richmond, CA
• Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) in Berkeley, CA;
• Schatz Energy Research Center at Humboldt State University (HSU) in Arcata, CA;
• Prospect Silicon Valley (ProspectSV) center in San Jose, CA;
• Bevilacqua-Knight Inc./California Fuel Cell Partnership (BKi and CaFCP) in Sacramento, CA;
• Center for Transportation and the Environment (CTE), Berkeley;
• Bay Area Air Quality Management District (BAAQMD); and
• CalCharge consortium

The center will emphasize the provision of hands-on practitioner training and development of real-world demonstration and deployment projects for alternative fuels and advanced transportation technologies. Additional key capabilities will allow for advanced audio/visual and internet connectivity between the center nodes. This will provide extensive physical as well as virtual communication and outreach/training capability across the broad Northern California region.  

The planned activities will center on emerging battery electric, hybrid-electric, plug-in hybrid electric, and hydrogen fuel cell electric technologies for public and private vehicle fleets. However, significant efforts will also be focused on more incremental strategies, using biofuels and natural gas (especially for medium-duty vehicles), as well as short-haul heavy-duty vehicle applications.

This project was one of three winning proposals of eleven submitted.  During the initial project phase, 2014-2017, CTE will assist in developing templates and expanded display signage capabilities at the NorthCAT locations.  CTE will also collaborate on physical and virtual infrastructure development, and training, outreach, and education planning.  In the project's longer term to 2020, CTE will facilitate regional clean transportation project development and deployment, assist with fleet manager project support and training and alternative fuels first-responder training, and provision technical and policy educational materials for AFV stakeholder groups, policymakers, and the public.

This project will significantly strengthen CTE's presence in California based alternative fuel vehicle activities. CTE established a west coast office in July 2013.