Adopt a Charger recently completed the upgrade of 6 #EVCS at #PointReyes National Seashore, in Marin County, California. We originally installed 3 EVCS here in 2013 to honor Craig Childers, an engineer for the California Air Resources Board (CARB), whose passion for electric cars put him at the center of electric vehicle policy in California since 1999. Craig helped me start Adopt a Charger in 2011, and was a mentor and friend. When he died unexpectedly on August 22, 2013, at the age of 57, I knew I wanted to honor his contribution to advancing the electrification of transportation with an Adopt a Charger site. We teamed up with the National Park Service, the #Marin School of Environmental Leadership, the Transportation Authority of Marin, and the Golden Gate Electric Vehicle Association to raise the funding needed to install the EVCS at the Bear Valley Visitor Center in his honor.
Point Reyes is a popular destination location for Bay Area residents, which boasts the largest concentration of EVs in the country. As the demand grew for charging at this spot, Adopt a Charger was fortunate to work with the California Energy Commission, the National Park Foundation, and the Point Reyes National Seashore Association to double the number of charging stations to 6, and add additional electrical capacity, so we could increase the charging rate from 16 amps to 32 amps of power, doubling the amount of range added.
Adopt a Charger received a grant of $30,000 from the NPF to enable the upgrade. The funding covered all the costs of installation, equipment, and 5 years of maintenance and operation for the charging stations.
The recently installed Tesla Universal Wall Connectors feature both the J-1772 plug, as well as the North American Charging Standard (NACS), and can charge all EVs on the road without an adaptor. This also enabled us to monetize the charging using the Tesla app, so we can pass the cost of electricity on to the EV drivers. Typically Adopt a Charger promotes fee-free charging, but the average monthly electrical bill was $2,000, and beyond what we could fundraise from sponsors.
As we continue to grow and evolve, the core principles of Adopt a Charger are to provide accessible, affordable, and reliable EV charging. We specialize in difficult-to-commercialize locations like National Parks and State Parks, and have proven to be a successful solution for emerging markets and rural areas, where the utilization does not provide a business case for recouping costs, but where the EVCS are important assets to enable zero emission travel.
"By offering EV charging at Point Reyes National Seashore, my goal is to encourage folks to leave their gas car behind, connect with nature’s splendor, and to consider the impact of their actions on future generations."
— Kitty Adams Hoksbergen, Executive Director, AAC
