Athens County is about to get a little greener.
So far, seven individuals have received an interest-free automobile loan from the Ohio University Credit Union in partnership with Upgrade Athens County. The only stipulation that comes with the loan is that it must be used to buy an electric or hybrid vehicle and the applicant must live or work in Athens County.
The opportunity to get a loan up to $30,000 lasts until December 2016 as part of Upgrade Athens County and the OU Credit Union’s electric vehicle loan program.
Those interested can use that money to buy a new or used electric or hybrid car from a list of more than 35 approved vehicles.
Mathew Roberts, info and outreach director of Upgrade Athens County, said a recent study of a life cycle analysis of electric cars versus emission cars found that electric cars produce 60 percent less emissions than a gasoline fueled car in the course of its lifetime.
The program that promotes the sale of those vehicles started in December 2015 as part of an effort to incentivize more citizens and workers of Athens County to go green, Roberts said.
“The priority really was to allow low income residents of Athens County to go electric, per say, by offering the zero percent,” Roberts said.
No matter where someone falls on the normal scale used to determine an interest rate for a loan, everyone will receive a zero percent interest rate for this loan forever, Roberts said.
“It really incentivize people with perhaps a bad credit score and know they’re going to get a high interest rate to apply and go with the loan,” Roberts said.
In order to offer that zero percent interest rate, the partnered companies were able to secure a fund from a private donor that acts as a backup in case individuals don’t pay back their loan, Roberts said.
“Because we’re trying to incentivize low income or risky lenders to go with this loan, the pool of money he offered is something OU Credit Union can draw from if the lenders don’t make payments back,” Roberts said.
Eva Bloom, development specialists for OU Credit Union, said the credit union decided to partner with Upgrade Athens County because of the benefits it would provide to the community.
“The ability to get alternative forms of transportation in terms of electric vehicles or hybrid vehicles that are going to be better for our environment and also help people save money day to day,” Bloom said. “Because they use, in the case of electric vehicles, no gas, in the case of hybrid vehicles, much less gas.”
Bloom added the partnered project was entered into the Georgetown University Energy Prize contest and ended up as one of the semi-finalist.
If the project wins the energy saving contest, Bloom said the winning city will be awarded $5 million to make additional energy improvements.
The semi-finalists will compete for two more years to reduce their utility supply energy consumption, according to the Upgrade Athens County website.
While the program is offered through the OU Credit Union, Blooms said there hasn't been a lot of interest from students, and that it's primarily been residents of Athens County.
Paige Collier, a sophomore studying exercise science and physiology, said a lot students wouldn't be able to afford a electric vehicle loan while balancing the cost of school.
Collier added that Athens County is one of the poorest counties in Ohio, and said she isn't sure if residents would be interested in the program either.
"I feel like not a lot of people will want an electric car because you have to be able to charge it," Collier said.
