Installation of the Month (February 2023): City of Los Angeles Lot 715

As our network continues to expand, we’ve consistently maintained three key focuses: 1) Accessibility; 2) Affordability; and 3) Sustainability. These attributes are the cornerstone of everything we do, and our newest installation near the heavily trafficked intersection of West Pico Boulevard and Overland Avenue in Rancho Park helps us accomplish all of them.

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Accessibility to us means taking an egalitarian approach to infrastructure installation, and this new location nestled amidst the confluence of West Los Angeles, Palms/Culver City and Beverly Hills means residents of varying social and economic strata will have access to the same reliable power source. Affordability means being cost-conscious to those of us with the meagerest of means, so this new location brings a wallet-friendly subscription network to an area that is still surprisingly light on public infrastructure. And sustainability means continuing to minimize our carbon footprint by using renewable energy sources, which every new installation of ours employs, but especially this location, with hardware that our manufacturing partner Tritium calls “the world’s smallest footprint DC charger.”

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This newest addition to the EVCS family of charging stations is Los Angeles City Lot 715, located at 2371 Overland Avenue, which can be seen here:

https://www.google.com/maps/place/2371+Overland+Ave,+Los+Angeles,+CA+90064/data=!4m2!3m1!1s0x80c2bbbd77522a49:0x7d09493264ddabf4?sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiu0pSRufD8AhVxPH0KHbYxD5kQ8gF6BAgLEAI

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The fact that LADOT continues to call upon us to install chargers on their properties shows their commitment to electric mobility. The 27-space, open-air lot has no height restrictions or pesky gates to contend with, easy ingress and egress, and wide double-lined spaces. And speaking of affordability, the cost to park is just 25 cents per 20 minutes up to a maximum of $3.00 between 7am and 9pm, Monday through Sunday, and free outside of these hours. Not a bad rate considering the popular area and recent effects of inflation. See more information about the lot here:

http://parkinginla.lacity.org/

And here:

https://en.parkopedia.com/parking/lot/overland_and_pico_lot_715/90064/los_angeles/

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Specifically, we installed four Tritium RT50 DCFC’s with 50kW power, up to 500V supply output, reinforced isolating transformers and continuous 125-amp charging via CCS1/CCS2 and CHAdeMO connectors. The ultra-lightweight chargers clock in at just 369 pounds each and can function with at least 94% efficiency in temperatures as high as 122 degrees Fahrenheit thanks to a patented liquid-cooling technology. Moreover, the intuitive human-machine interface (HMI) features hyper-clear displays for easy operation and multiple payment options including RFID for contactless credit card transactions. No wonder the brand has won multiple prestigious international awards for innovation at ceremonies like the EVIEs and Australian Good Design Awards.

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The Rancho Park area where City Lot 715 sits is flanked by multiple businesses, including several banks (Chase, Citibank, Wells Fargo and Bank of America all have locations within walking distance), fabric stores, barbershops and hair salons, nail salons, a veterinarian and a dry cleaners. In addition, a list of area restaurants reads like a who’s who of worldwide cuisines, including Louise’s Trattoria (Italian), Nizam (Indian), Gyu-Kaku (Japanese BBQ), Bossa Nova (Brazilian) and The Apple Pan (good old-fashioned American). What’s more, it’s just over a mile from the illustrious Westfield Century City Mall, arguably one of the most beautiful shopping malls in the state, if not the country.

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Accessibility. Affordability. Sustainability. EVCS continues to advance these three pillars of electric mobility with every new installation, further epitomized by this great new location. As EVs become more ubiquitous, sites like these will prove crucial to the daily lives of everyday Americans. And as our network expands, we expect LADOT to continue as a trusted partner and ally while simultaneously serving as a model for other cities to emulate.

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Back

The Race to Democratize Charging Infrastructure

According to McKinsey & Company, “As the number of EVs on the road increases, annual demand for electricity to charge them would surge from 11 billion kWh now to 230 billion kWh in 2030… Modeling indicates that nearly 30 million chargers would be needed to deliver so much electricity in that year. While most of these chargers would be installed at residences, 1.2 million would [need to] be public chargers.” More importantly, these public chargers must be targeted to drivers of all ages, genders, races, cultures, income levels and geographic segments. As such, EVCS has identified three primary areas necessary to increasing the democratization of charging infrastructure:

Navigating California’s New EV Mandate

California’s going all in on electric. On August 25th, Governor Gavin Newsom made a very important announcement concerning the future of transportation in the Golden State: “We can solve this climate crisis if we focus on the big, bold steps necessary to cut pollution. California now has a groundbreaking, world-leading plan to achieve 100 percent zero-emission vehicle sales by 2035.” Big and bold, indeed. And while highly encouraging, it brings up a number of questions moving forward.

How EVCS is Repairing Reliability Concerns

One of the biggest concerns among EV drivers today is the reliability of public chargers. One recent survey from the Department of Bioengineering at UC Berkeley claims as many as 23% of public chargers in the Bay Area alone are, as Wired sums up, “nonfunctioning at any given time, stymied by broken screens, shoddy credit card or payment systems, network connection failures, or damaged plugs.” And that’s in a locale prioritizing the conversion to electric. Testimony from motorists seems to corroborate these findings. A CEC survey of 1,290 EV drivers found that fully 60% had experienced damaged or inoperable chargers, while almost half needed assistance from customer service. We find this wholly unacceptable and have taken measures to ensure that chargers in the EVCS network rise to the standard of operability our customers expect. Here are a few ways we’re doing that:

Installation of the Month (July 2022): Kenwood Inn & Spa

A key focus for us over the last several years has been the installation of additional chargers at holiday hot spots, tourist destinations, and other key points of interest. Not only will it help dispel long-range travel anxiety among many new EV drivers, but it will also lead to a significant reduction in carbon emissions otherwise generated by gas-guzzlers during peak vacation seasons. Moreover, our egalitarian approach to site selection means we’re just as likely to install a charger at a McDonald’s as we are at a Morton’s since we understand the value in catering to a broad clientele. However, higher net worth individuals continue to drive EV sales in the US (a June 2021 Fuels Institute study specifies middle-aged males with household incomes over $100,000), so catering to venues that offer a luxury experience will encourage even greater participation by this group while serving as a bellwether for lower-income drivers who are attracted to the idea of electric mobility as a symbol of status.