Since I was the Project Manager at the New York Power Authority did I know an EV guy named Don Karner from ETEC (Electric Transportation Engineering Corporation). Now he is running ECOtality and the EV Project. This is big.

On August 5, 2009, ECOtality North America, a subsidiary of ECOtality, Inc. was awarded a $99.8 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy (USDOE).

ECOtality North America is partnering with Nissan North America to deploy up to 5,700 Extended Range Electric Vehicles, along with 15,085 charging systems to support them, in 15 strategic markets in six states, including Arizona, California, Oregon, Tennessee, Texas, and Washington, as well as the District of Columbia.

Then I wrote in the Daily Green:

Through ECOtality’s EV Project, the company is working to build out home-base, commercial and public electric car chargers, starting in major markets in five states: Arizona (Phoenix & Tucson metropolitan areas), Washington (Seattle area), Oregon (Portland, Salem, Corvallis and Eugene), California (San Diego) and Tennessee. The EV Project was created in August 2009, and was awarded a federal stimulus grant of nearly $100 million from the U.S. Department of Energy, funded through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). That grant is being matched by partners, which include the Nissan LEAF electric car (which just got an estimated sale price, after tax breaks, of roughly $25,000).