Electrify America partners with Lyft in Denver

The Volkswagen subsidiary founded following the DieselGate scandal has announced an agreement with Lyft to supply the rideshare company’s Express Drive fleet with fast charging, as well as an investment in electric buses for a new route at UC Davis-Sacramento.

First, to the announced collaboration agreement – Electrify America will supply power for Lyft’s Express Drive program through their DC fast-charging network. The program will kick off in Denver, Colorado, where the newly introduced EV fleet will be supplied with fast charging energy from 30 DC fast charging points. Nineteen additional charging stations, totalling about 75 more charge points, are planned to be installed in Denver by the end of next year.

Lyft reaffirmed their commitment to adding more clean vehicles to the road, and praised the added comfort for EV drivers: “we can’t have an impact without providing our drivers with fast, convenient access to charging, which is why we are thrilled to be working with Electrify America,” according to Cal Lankton, Vice President for Fleet and Global Operations at Lyft.

The new bus route in Sacramento will be operated jointly by the Sacramento Regional Transit District and the Yolo County Transportation District. The buses are being supplied by Electrify America. The investment here is for twelve electric Proterra E2 Catalyst buses, which will cost between $11 million and $13 million. The buses are planned to run every 20 minutes between the University of California Davis campus and the UC Davis Medical Center, including stops in Davis and Sacramento. Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg said: “This new bus service will help us reach our goal of achieving carbon neutrality while strengthening the link between our city and the major research institution in our region.”

This marks Electrify America’s second investment in Sacramento, as the company $14 million investment to help launch two car-sharing programmes in the California city, as well as constructing a charging station network throughout the city and airport.

electrifyamerica.com (Lyft), bizjournals.com (Sacramento)