Inaugurating a new Caltrans charger in Eureka

[javan]

Today I stopped by the Caltrans district 1 office in Eureka to check if their new Clipper Creek charging station was up and running. They had installed the station a few months ago, but immediately thereafter had closed the parking lot in which it was installed in order to repave the lot. They re-opened the lot on Wednesday of this week, and I happened to come by today to see if the charger was accessible and what if anything they were charging for its use. When I arrived I spotted the charger immediately. It was visible from the street, right next to the main entrance of the building in which Caltrans is housed.
I tried the charger but no juice was flowing. It seemed dead. I went into the office building and inquired. The reception person called someone else in the office and he came down and went to check out the situation with me. He went back into the building to the breaker box, activated the breakers, and voila, we had a free level two charger with easy access in Eureka. We discussed charger locations, level 3 chargers and how Caltrans could help in getting them to the North Coast, and the fact that Caltrans will soon be getting 3 Volts and a Leaf at their Eureka office for staff use.
I was asked if they could take a picture of me and my Leaf and the first charge being given at the charging station in order to publish it in their internal newsletter. I happily assented, and they took my photo. I then listed the station on recargo and plugshare. The people I talked to there were very interested in the technology and wanted Caltrans to help spread it (perhaps by assisting in sighting charging stations.) All in all it was a very positive experience for me.

 

[lkkms2]

Nice story. Glad you had a good experience. And, Good to hear of the vehicle purchases - a positive sign of things to come.

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From a Caltrans Engineer in San Diego.

 

[javan]

lkkms2, I heard about this charging station from another Caltrans engineer who owns a Tesla model S. We met at an Earth Day electric vehicle event this year, and he told me about Caltrans putting in the charger. I've been waiting for the repaving of the parking lot in order to try it. I was quite glad to hear about the vehicle purchases for their staff use. Is that happening agency wide?

 

[lkkms2]

Javan,

Last year Governor Brown signed an Executive Order covering green house gas emissions and many steps state agencies can take to help reduce green house gases. Supporting purchases of vehicles like the Leaf and Volt is one such step. I have not seen any Leafs or Volts at Caltrans in San Diego, but look forward to seeing some.

I was planning to share your story at work on Monday (already sent link to my work email) and I will ask if there are any plans on getting any such vehicles at Caltrans in San Diego. ( The Department of General Services actually orders all vehicles for State Agencies)

I have heard there are plans to install L2 chargers at our Old Town office and possibly a QC, but the wheels turn slowly, and I am waiting to see something concrete appear. Fingers are crossed.

 

[RonDawg]

I can see the state buying Volts, or for that matter any hybrid, but I'll be personally surprised if Caltrans buys more than a handful of Leafs. The range is just going to be too limited, especially with the distances that you can expect a Caltrans employee to drive. Some Caltrans districts are huge: District 8 for example covers Riverside and San Bernardino counties; the latter is over 50% bigger in area than Maryland.

Even if they limit the Leafs to in-town use only, what if the employee ends up using all its range first thing in the morning? Now you have to wait hours before it can be used again unless the car has a QC port, and QC'ing is available.

Although the Leaf is cheaper, GM (like Ford and Chrysler) tends to give heavy government fleet discounts, so the price differential may not be as much to government bean counters.

Leafs make more sense for municipal governments, where the likelihood of the employee having to travel far is much less than for Caltrans. But even a spread-out city like Los Angeles can pose a problem for the Leaf.