$22 Million EV Charging Pilot Launched In Southern California
Originally published on EV Obsession.
Southern California Edison — a subsidiary of Edison International — has gotten approval from the California Public Utilities Commission to go ahead with a new $22-million electric vehicle charging station pilot program, according to recent reports.
The new electric vehicle (EV) charging station pilot program aims to increase charging station numbers within its service territory by around 1500 within the near future. These new charging stations will mostly be installed in areas where people leave their cars parked for long periods of time — college campuses, parks, apartment + condo complexes, major work areas, etc.
Interestingly, at least 10% of the new EV charging stations installed will be located in “disadvantaged” areas — presumably to make EV adoption amongst the low-income classes more feasible.
Zack’s Equity Research provides more:
According to the company, the program, called “Charge Ready”, is a partnership between SCE and participants of the program. While the utility will install and maintain the supporting electrical infrastructure, participants will own, operate and maintain qualified charging stations. Related costs will be borne by the participants.
Participants of the program will also receive rebates ranging between 25% and 100% of the base cost of the charging stations and their installation, as an incentive for taking part in the program. Additionally, the program will fund education and outreach to generate awareness regarding the benefits of electric vehicles and charging from the power grid. SCE is also authorized to offer new advisory services to help its customers gain knowledge about transportation electrification technologies.
Moreover, upon completion of the pilot program, SCE is planning to seek the CPUC’s permission to increase the total number of charging stations to about 30,000 for a total estimated cost of $355 million.
California is currently working towards the rather ambitious goal of there being 1.5 million “zero-emissions” vehicles on the state’s roads by 2025. In order to achieve that goal, programs such as this one are probably a necessity, as lack of charging infrastructure (and/or range) remains a notable stumbling block to wider adoption.
(Tip of the hat here to “bwa” on the Tesla Motors Club forum.)
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