PHOENIX --- Electric Transportation Engineering Corp. (eTec), a subsidiary of electric vehicle company ECOtality Inc., has received a $99.8 million Department of Energy grant to spearhead a major deployment of electric vehicles (EVs) and charging infrastructure. 

The final scope of work for the Electric Vehicle (EV) Project will include the deployment of 10,950 Level 2 (220V) chargers, 260 Level 3 fast-chargers and 4,700 Nissan Leaf zero-emission electric vehicles in five states: Arizona, California, Oregon, Tennessee, and Washington. With the signing of the contract, the EV Project officially began Oct. 1. 

"Today marks a significant day for America. With the contract officially in place with the U.S. Department of Energy, eTec can formally begin its work to implement the largest transportation electrification project in history," said Don Karner, president of eTec. "We would like to thank the U.S. Department of Energy and the Obama administration for investing in clean energy programs such as the EV Project. With the support of our project partners, we look forward to a successful project that will change the way America drives for the better." 

For more details about the project, visit www.theEVproject.com. 

The Web site provides general information about the EV Project and information about how to purchase a Nissan Leaf and sign up to receive free charge infrastructure at a home or business. The interactive site also offers real-time maps to show where current charge stations are located. Visitors can track the deployment of charge infrastructure and make suggestions for locating new charging stations. 

"With the contracts in place and the EV Project officially launched, we can now work to make widespread electric vehicle use a reality by studying lessons learned from this project and providing a blueprint for other cities to adopt electric vehicles," said Jonathan Read, president and CEO of ECOtality. 

The EV Project will collect and analyze data characterizing vehicle use and charging patterns in diverse topographies and climate conditions, evaluate the effectiveness of charge infrastructure, and conduct trials of various revenue systems for public charge infrastructure.