Media Contact: Cynthia Harris

Walnut Creek, CA, August 3, 2011

With over 1.2 million electric vehicles projected to emerge on the nation’s roads by 2015, AAA is ready to assist by providing a charge to the electric vehicles stranded on the roadside and getting the driver back on the go quickly.

This week AAA unveiled North America’s first roadside assistance truck that provides 10 to 15 minutes of charge time to members with discharged electric vehicles. This allows the vehicle to drive three to 15 miles to charging station where they can further charge their vehicle.

“AAA has been a leader in addressing the needs of motorists for more than a century and the introduction of mobile electric vehicle charging continues that tradition.” explained AAA Northern California spokesperson Cynthia Harris.”As the electric car continues to emerge, AAA is at the forefront and ready to help.”

AAA will deploy the trucks with mobile electric vehicle charging capacity in six metropolitan areas across the U.S. as a pilot program including San Francisco Bay Area, Portland, Seattle, Los Angeles, Knoxville and the Tampa Bay area.

“While these six areas are part of the initial pilot program, AAA has had tremendous interest from other clubs across the county to offer this service to their members,” added Harris. “AAA anticipates expanding this program to additional areas in the months following this initial rollout phase.”

The AAA Roadside Assistance truck is powered by Green Charge Networks and features a removable lithium-ion battery pack for mobile charging. Other vehicles will be equipped with generators powered by alternative fuels and other power sources.

All AAA mobile electric vehicle charging vehicles can provide Level 3 (Direct Current Fast Charging) and Level 2 (Alternating Current Quick Charging) to electric vehicles.

These new trucks are remarkably similar to AAA’s other light service vehicles and are equipped to allow AAA technicians to provide traditional AAA Roadside Assistance capacities to all motorists, such as battery testing, jump starts and replacement, tire changes, fuel delivery and lock out service.

AAA Northern California offers a wide array of automotive, travel, insurance, DMV, financial services and consumer discounts to over 4 million members. AAA has been a leader and advocate for the safety and security of all travelers since it was founded more than 100 years ago.