have you helped advocate for local Lvl 2/3 chargers?

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achewt

Well-known member
Joined
Mar 31, 2014
Messages
63
Location
Nelson, BC
I think I own the first BEV in the West Kootenays of BC. There is currently very limited public charging at this point (only Rossland has a public station). I have had a lot of interest and some good conversations with people on the street when they see my car. I see this area as prime for EVs with a range typical to my LEAF, since there are many towns and interesting things to do, spaced out about 40-80km. However, we are in a chicken-egg scenario where no one seems to want to buy EVs without charging infrastructure, and the towns seem reluctant to jump in.

I would like to change that and am interesting in investing some time and energy to get some chargers in my region. So, I am asking the forum community to give me any pointers you have had on getting local engagement.

Many thanks,
Andrew
 
I have time to properly respond today, but I'll try in a bit. Actually, I am giving a presentation to a group of business and community leaders in about 3 hours on this very subject. I have generated multiple presentations/handouts etc. I suggest you look at the Electric Vehicle Association website and several local ones as well. There are several good ones in the larger cities (SF bay, SEA, etc.). I try to distill it all down to whether a business or community will see any benefit from a charging station vs. the cost to install/maintain/electricity/fees. Here's an example: If I drive about 200 miles to the nearest big city (for me either Seattle, Portland, or Spokane) using my gas car I will drive straight through, without stopping at any of the smaller regional cities in between. Those cities will receive absolutely NO benefit (taxes, services utilized, etc) from my passage. In fact, they might actually see a small amount of degradation (roads, air quality, noise, etc). However, if I drive my 75 mi EV, then I must stop several times to recharge. During that time, I purchase food, services, supplies, whatever and sprinkle a small amount of money on each of those communities. As one example, I stopped and dumped over $100 on one community in my EV, and ended up paying about $3 for $0.50 worth of electricity. They had a very expensive EVSE station with all the bells and whistles and monthly fees, all to dispense a very inexpensive service. The city should have put in cheaper ClipperCreeks and given away the electricity because of the additional tax revenue that I spent during the stop. However, without the infrastructure for charging, we cannot even contemplate driving an EV that distance (that's not to say that every EV owner will even if the stations exist, that's a different discussion). Hope this helps.
 
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