Indiana boosting EV usage under GOEVIN program

The US state of Indiana is seeking to boost electric vehicle (EV) usage through the GOEVIN program (Go Electric Vehicles Indiana) under the state’s environmental management department (IDEM).

Launched in late September, GOEVIN was created with the help of $40.9 million in funding through the federal Volkswagen Environmental Mitigation Trust, a settlement which required VW to pay a total of $2.9 billion into the Environmental Mitigation Trust Fund, to offset the excess air pollution emitted by VW vehicles during federal emissions tests.

The program is focused on better informing Indiana drivers about EVs and EV charging infrastructure as many consumers are still worried about range anxiety despite EV ranges significantly increasing in recent years. Under the program, IDEM intends to deploy 61 Direct Current (DC) Fast Chargers along major highways in the state, most by year-end 2023.

According to Carl Lisek who is Executive Director of local NGO Drive Clean Indiana, only about 0.34% of the more than 5 million cars in Indiana are EVs, being Lake County with 3,753 registrations, Porter County (2,073), and LaPorte (670), the NWI Times reported.

Approximately 13% of new cars sold around the world are electrified and, according to the International Energy Agency, at least 60% of new car sales would need to be EVs by 2030 to reach the so-called Net Zero Emission goal of 2050.

Among the largest companies based in Indiana which could be impacted by the program are Koch Enterprises, Anthem, Cummins, Eli Lilly, and Berry Global.