Tag: ev charging station

Two new public electric vehicle charging stations open in Fresno

Two months ago, I decided to look back at the state of public electric charging infrastructure for electric cars in Fresno. Sadly, the situation was still very dire.

Fortunately, there has been some news on that front. Chargers have arrived at Fresno State and Downtown:

Fresno State is planning to give electric car drivers more
options to “charge up” under plans announced Friday to build a six-stall
charging station on campus.

University officials say the station
located west of Save Mart Center will have two quick-charge pumps — a
car’s battery could recharge in 20 to 30 minutes — plus four more for
longer charges. It’s being paid for through a $397,000 grant from the
California Energy Commission. Click to read more!

Are public electric car chargers finally coming to Fresno?

It’s amazing to think that almost three years ago, I wrote about Fresno finally getting its first public electric car charging station. As the region with the worst air quality in the country, the lack of support for electric vehicles was alarming.

And here we are in 2015, and the situation is almost the same as it was in 2012!

In that post, I wrote about how the first public car charging installation was coming to Blackbeard’s. Well three years later, it hasn’t actually happened. Here’s what progress looked like last month:

 photo IMG_1183_8202_zpsefhbxtfd.jpg

The solar panels were never installed, nor was the charging station. Click to read more!

UPS to deploy EV trucks in Fresno market

I’ve talked a few times in the past about how even though Fresno and the Central Valley are home to the nations worst air, we have almost no electric vehicle (EV) infrastructure.

During the summer, the air board asks people not to drive, because the air quality approaches very unhealthy levels, but at the same time has to issue warnings for people not to bike because that would involve breathing the bad air. So naturally, people drive just as much, if not more, than they would on any other day. And without a push for electric vehicles, the number of non-polluting cars on the road is minimal. Click to read more!

Fresno’s first public EV charging station still not built

I was pleased to read six months ago that Blackbeard’s would be installing the first real public electric vehicle (EV) charging station in Fresno, along with a solar panel canopy in their parking lot. Currently, there are less than five EV chargers in the Fresno area – two at Nissan dealerships, and a couple of employee-only spots at Pelco and the Clean Air offices. The Blackbeard’s one would be open to anyone, not just employees (it is unclear if the chargers would be free or not).

Sadly, it looks like the installation was abandoned. The parking lot looks exactly as it did in August, with trees ripped out, some concrete supports and nothing else. Sort of sad that a clean air project has resulted in less trees, and nothing else. Click to read more!

Fresno gets its first public EV charging station

So I took a bit of a break….sorry about that. Was away from most of the internet really, except to watch the Euro matches. Regular posting resumes now.

————————-
EV – electric vehicle.

It’s summer in Fresno, and even though today’s high is a chilly 86, it means we’re in the season of air quality warnings. Of course, that’s true of the winter as well, and yes, the fall. And sometimes spring.

Fresno has some of the worst air in the country, thanks to a combination of high heat, geography, and agriculture. The tendency to drive everywhere for everything doesn’t help though, and cars are a huge source of local air pollution. Click to read more!

Why aren’t electric vehicles being pushed where they’d benefit most?

According to the World Health Organization, Fresno has the 2nd worst air quality in the country. Bakersfield, our valley neighbor, is first. This is not a surprise to anyone who lives in the valley or reads the local newspapers.

But what is a surprise is how little people seem to care, especially at the local government level. The feds have established a $29 million annual penalty that the valley must pay (guaranteed for 2012 and 2013, will extend as needed) because the air quality doesn’t meet standards. The money will stay in the valley to help subsidize purchases of clean school buses, clean lawn mowers etc etc. Click to read more!