A small cottage community in Ashland, Oregon will soon participate in a new pilot project that will launch a plug-in electric car-share program sponsored by the builders of the cottage community, KDA Homes, LLC.
Why Ashland Is The Perfect Community To Test This Electric Car-Share Program
Ashland has already proven itself as an early adopter of electric vehicles making up 76% of Jackson County’s total EV registrations, according to Oregon DoE.
“The community in Ashland has really gotten behind the EV movement,” says Laz Ayala, Partner at KDA Homes. “Our community as a whole are pioneers when it comes to sustainability. Because of “our valley’s compact geography, the abundance of EV charging stations, and the financial incentives owning an EV provides it is no wonder that so many community members are going green in an effort to help our environment and their wallet.”
KDA Homes Plans For Saving Home Owners Money
“At KDA Homes, our team wanted to do something to help our homeowners save money while reducing their environmental footprint in the process,” he added. “In a town like Ashland where everything is so accessible, it is a financial burden and really unnecessary for many households to own more than one vehicle.”
“Our team recently held a meeting where we brainstormed new ways to save our homeowners money each year. We started talking about vehicles, and after a little bit of research, were blown away to discover that members of our community are spending in some cases up to 25% of their income on a car that they get little use out of. We realized that some folks are paying more than a $1 per mile just to own their car” says Mark Knox, Planner and business partner at KDA Homes. “This seemed like too big of a problem for our team not to tackle”.
“To us, the answer seemed simple: offer homeowners at our latest project, The Garden Cottages in Ashland, an electric car-share program where they can check out an electric vehicle on site. This is not only the socially responsible thing to do but the right business move that we hope will get other developers throughout Oregon to follow”, adds Ayala. “This is a model project for us. There is much we can do in the real estate development industry to address the rising cost of living that wages are not keeping up with. We can accomplish this by building smaller energy-efficient homes and taking advantage of today’s solar, automobile, and smartphone technology. Through our solar power and SEV programs, we hope to put about $12,000 a year back into the pocket of our homeowners.”.
How Will This electric car-share program Work?
With the range of many electric vehicles now surpassing the 300-mile mark and the abundance of charging stations throughout Ashland and the surrounding Valley, keeping an EV charged is no longer a daunting task.
“Now that EV technology is where it needs to be to make it a feasible substitute for gas-powered vehicles we believe that now is the time to use this technology to reduce our community’s carbon footprint,” adds Ayala. “It is our responsibility to do what we can to ensure that the next generation has a tolerable future. This EV program is just a small step in that direction, but it is the socially responsible thing to do, and one that has the potential to save our homeowners a significant portion of their income.”
The plug-in electric cars will be managed and operated by KDA Homes for the first few years of operation until the program is securely established and then will be given to the Garden Cottage homeowners, who will check the vehicles out on a first-come-first-served basis with hours that meet their basic transportation needs.
“Our goal for this program is to help these families reduce to one vehicle or potentially eliminate the need for owning a car altogether.,” adds Knox. “We are using this as a test model for future projects. We want to position it for success and we want to learn all we can for future projects. That’s the reason we want to control the initial operation. Along with the other innovative and sustainable elements of this development, The Garden Cottages has the exciting potential of becoming a model project for other communities around the nation. We are all super excited about the opportunity our small company has taken to become the leaders in our industry and to pioneer a new wave of sustainability in real estate development.”
The SEV program is estimated to cost each household $50 per month which will go toward covering the cost of managing, maintaining, insuring, and powering the electric vehicles.
Learn more about The Garden Cottages and KDA Homes.
At KDA Homes, our mission is to be pioneers in smarter home design leading the way for sustainability in residential development and green building. If you’re interested in being a part of a sustainable community in Ashland, Oregon please contact us today to learn more about KDA Homes currently on the market.
