First Public Electric Car Charging Station Inaugurated In Woodland California
Editor’s Note: This is Dalton Wignall’s first contribution to Gas 2.0. Welcome Dalton!
Last Saturday, a rather low key ceremony inaugurated a new high-voltage charging station for electric vehicles. The station is located at the Gateway Center in east Woodland California.
It’s said to be the “most complete” charging station in the country, with two units that are capable of recharging electric vehicles in roughly an hour. Hopefully, the facility will set an example and give way to future possibilities for charging stations.
In honor of the inauguration, six Tesla Roadsters were brought to the charging station by Tesla Motors representatives. The Tesla roadsters are capable of traveling up to 250 miles on a single electric charge and go 0-60 in a speedy 4 seconds.
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This public charging station is the first of its type on the street. The station is located east of Interstate-5 off County Road 102 at the Gateway Center, and contains one Tesla, two AVcons, one small paddle inductive charger, plus two neighborhood electric vehicle standard outlets. The project is a result of collaboration between developers and the city.
There is also talk of EV-charging stations elsewhere, with Portland announcing a new EV station last Wednesday. Stations are also being considered between Tucson and Phoenix, Arizona, since Nissan’s new electric vehicle is being test marketed there. Nissans electric vehicle travels 100 miles on a single charge which, is not enough for the trip between Tucson and Phoenix, so Casa Grande is being considered for an EV-charging station at the strip mall located on I-10. These stations could possibly be in place by 2010.
Image Credit: PK Kool via Flickr under Creative Commons License
What a load of hype… where does the electric come from? Partly oil or coal.
Woodland came long after we received our first EV charging stations in San Luis Obispo. Now, five years later, they have been dismantled for lack of use. That’s what happens when the solutions aren’t market driven, but government operated. How much did SLO’s charging stations cost local taxpayers? Imagine a better alternative: “NuFule” a hypothetical new chain of private recharging stations. Outside: biodiesel, hydrogen and solar-roof-charged electricity. Inside the store: healthier snacks, quality coffee, atmosphere…even clean restrooms. Think of this as, Trader Joes and Starbucks-meets-AM/PM. Rather than a government run charging meter, you have new jobs, a new destination, generating wealth and serving needs. Public charging stations are not the answer.
Maybe it comes from solar panels which were installed over what used to be desert tortoise nests.
That won’t go over very well with environmentalists.
This is definitely a step in the right direction. Even if only a part of the power for the electric cars comes from a renewable source (wind, solar, hydro) it is certainly more than it would be with gasoline. One major hurdle to electric vehicles is convenience, and providing a place for people to charge the car while their out helps to remove that hurdle.
I converted a 94 Tercel to electric last summer (http://www.zerogasoline.com) and I’ve cut my transportation costs down about 75%. If my small town were to add a charging station somewhere, I could drive 100% electric and sell my Jetta.
100% agree with H. Schmerdtz
Electric vehicle charging stations are nothing new, but unfortunately the ones here in San Luis Obispo sat empty for most of their lives. I read over a year ago that there were more charging stations than cars which could use them in San Luis Obispo County. Now since charging interfaces have changed (the SLO chargers were the inductive paddle types), they would have to be retrofitted, using more taxpayer dollars.
Let’s all hope the new charging interface sticks, and that private charging services emerge.
Ripe4Change, good for you, you got hold of the naysayer line from 2004. Read a bit before you spew your ignorance.
In regards to some of the comments about the source of the electricity for this EV charging Station, while it may not all be a “green way” of producing electricity some of it likely is. But I still have to agree that this isn’t the answer to all the problems, but at least its a step in the right direction. You have to remember that Rome wasn’t built in a day.
There is also talk in the UK (and U.S.) of making charging stations fueled by solar panels, which I think would be a good idea for these charging stations to make things even more eco friendly.
This is great news for EV drivers including myself.
In response to “ChuckL”’s comment, we have thousands of acres of parking lots and rooftops that can be covered with solar panels before we start covering wildlife habitats. A community college in my area has already done this, and the results are great. The college gets electricity from the panels, and the people who park their cars in that lot get to park in the shade.
I have not seen any answer adressing this question.
At todays electricity rates what would the cost be for a full charge at a charging station and for charging the car at home. Also, if electrics cars became prevelent, how will this impact the power plants that produce electricity. Will the increased demand for electricity generate more polution from the power plants that use either coal or fossil fuels to produce that product? Also considering the initial price of an all electric auto versus a conventional fossil fueled auto, the cost of replacing the batteries in the electric car when needed, and the cost in electrical bills for charging said electric car, what would the difference in operational costs of the two be?
There is an old addage…..There is no such thing as a free lunch!
No, there is no polution generated from driving an electric car but, how much more pollution will be generated for the tremendous increased need from the power companies for electricity needed to charge these cars when they become very numerous.