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Electrify America Increases Access for Rural California

Published on Sat, Feb 6, 2021

By: The LACar Editorial Staff

Electrify America – the largest network of electric vehicle charging stations in the US – has added 30 more stations to rural California.

One of the main criticisms of electric vehicles is their lack of charging accessibility. However, Electric America is taking great strides to solve this issue.

The nation’s largest public ultra-fast charging network has officially added 30 solar-powered electric vehicle (EV) charging stations throughout the Central Valley and inland areas of Southern California.

The off-grid, standalone chargers are strategically located to provide greater access to sustainable EV charging for drivers in the rural corners of our state.

Full report below:

Electrify America’s EV charging infrastructure plans in California include a commitment to increasing access to EV charging infrastructure in rural areas of the state, to both facilitate regional travel and drive adoption of EVs in rural communities. With complimentary charging, the new solar units help combat two of the biggest barriers to EV adoption in these locations – access to public charging and affordability.

The network ensured that more than half of these chargers were located in disadvantaged and low income communities, demonstrating the company’s ongoing commitment to serve these populations.

“Electrify America’s mission centers around increasing access to electric vehicle charging infrastructure to meet the differing needs of drivers across a diverse set of communities and lifestyles,” said Nina Huesgen, senior manager, home and ecommerce at Electrify America. “We believe adding renewable energy to our offerings and expanding access to public charging in rural communities will help continue to spur EV adoption in the state.”

Twenty of the 30 solar-powered charging stations are located at health care centers. With input from public and private stakeholders, Electrify America identified educational and health care institutions as ideal charging points due to high amounts of traffic and extended hours of access.

Locations were selected after further analyzing communities with the greatest need for charging, existing charging options and local travel patterns, among other factors.

Ten solar-powered charging stations were deployed in coordination with the Fresno County Rural Transit Agency. All thirty EV ARC™ charging stations were sourced from Beam Global (formerly Envision Solar), the San-Diego based clean tech company that manufactures the durable EV ARC™ infrastructure products in California.

Onboard ARC Technology™ energy storage enables the chargers to operate at night, in inclement weather and in the event of a blackout or power outage.

For more information about the solar-powered chargers or Electrify America’s ZEV Investment plan, visit https://www.electrifyamerica.com.

Electrify America solar chargers are available to the public free of charge at the following locations (also visible on the network’s Locate a Charger page):