Author: Nicole Cleary
UC Riverside has welcomed EVGIDE, a Riverside-based clean mobility and distributed energy company, as the first official member of the SoCal OASIS® Member Program. Through the new partnership, EVGIDE and UCR will collaborate to advance sustainable energy infrastructure and community-based electric vehicle carsharing programs while demonstrating how integrated clean mobility solutions can be deployed at scale.
The collaboration builds on UC Riverside's decades of leadership in sustainable transportation research through the College of Engineering's Center for Environmental Research and Technology (CE-CERT). By combining UCR's research expertise with EVGIDE's innovative infrastructure platform, the partnership aims to accelerate the development and validation of clean energy and mobility solutions that can benefit communities throughout Inland Southern California and beyond.
"As our first official member, EVGIDE embodies the innovation-ready spirit SoCal OASIS was designed to accelerate," said Rosibel Ochoa, executive director of UCR's Office of Technology Partnerships. "Their commitment to sustainable, community-focused solutions aligns perfectly with our mission to bring intentional economic growth through cooperation between academic, public, and private sectors. We look forward to leveraging our ecosystem to help scale their impact across the region."
The collaboration draws upon UCR's nationally recognized expertise in sustainable transportation systems, including the EcoCAR program, the Sustainable Integrated Grid Initiative (SIGI), and decades of research in advanced vehicle technologies and smart grid integration. UCR's experience operating real-world carsharing programs, including the Clean Air Car Share Project, will also help support the long-term success of EVGIDE's fleet deployments.
Under a formal member agreement, EVGIDE will establish a presence within SoCal OASIS Park, where company leaders will collaborate with UCR faculty, researchers, students, and industry partners. The company will also receive entrepreneurial support through UCR's Office of Technology Partnerships and the EPIC Small Business Development Center, including mentorship from Entrepreneurs-in-Residence and assistance connecting with the broader SoCal OASIS innovation ecosystem.
The partnership will use UCR's living laboratories to evaluate integrated clean energy and transportation infrastructure under real-world conditions. Research activities will include digital twin modeling to identify optimal mobility hub locations, analysis of travel demand and vehicle-sharing behavior, exploration of vehicle-to-grid technologies to strengthen energy resilience, and evaluation of bundled infrastructure models that combine solar generation, battery storage, EV charging, and zero-emission carsharing services.
Researchers will also collaborate with regional partners to evaluate deployments through the Western Riverside Council of Governments and Riverside Community College District, including data collection from a fleet of 30 electric vehicles and exploration of a future mobility hub serving the University Avenue corridor.
"California's infrastructure gap is not a technology problem—it's an integration problem," said Ali Cooper, co-founder and chief operating officer of EVGIDE. "UCR gives us the research credibility, the campus living lab, and the institutional partnerships to prove that bundled clean energy and mobility infrastructure can be financially self-sustaining at scale."
The collaboration also seeks to determine whether integrated clean energy and mobility systems can serve as a replicable and financeable model for future public and private investment. By validating these technologies in real-world settings, the partners hope to accelerate commercialization while helping communities transition to cleaner, more resilient transportation infrastructure.
To learn more or apply for SoCal OASIS membership, access the application here, visit oasis.ucr.edu or contact Nicole Cleary at nicoled@ucr.edu.
About SoCal OASIS®
SoCal OASIS® is UC Riverside's regional innovation initiative dedicated to advancing sustainability, innovation, and social inclusion. Through public-private partnerships, living laboratories, entrepreneurship programs, and the future SoCal OASIS Park, the initiative connects startups, industry, government, and researchers to develop and demonstrate solutions in renewable energy, sustainable transportation, agriculture, natural resources, community health, artificial intelligence, robotics, and other emerging technologies.
The SoCal OASIS Member Program provides participating companies with access to UCR's research expertise, living laboratories, entrepreneurial mentorship, workforce pipeline, and commercialization resources to accelerate technology validation, market adoption, and regional economic growth.
Media Contact:
Nicole Cleary, UCR Technology Partnerships
nicoled@ucr.edu, oasis.ucr.edu
About EVGIDE
Founded in 2022 and headquartered in Riverside, EVGIDE (Electric Vehicle Get In Drive Everywhere) develops bundled clean mobility and distributed energy infrastructure that combines solar canopies, battery storage, EV charging, and neighborhood zero-emission carsharing under a single operational model.
The company has secured more than $4.3 million in competitive public funding, works with more than 16 institutional partners, and maintains a 100-megawatt memorandum of understanding pipeline. Current projects support tribal nations, community colleges, transit agencies, municipalities, and affordable housing developments throughout California.
Media Contact:
Ali Cooper, Co-Founder & COO
ali@evgide, platform.evgide.com