Back in April, Connecticut”™s Department of Energy and Environmental Protection published “Electric Vehicle Roadmap for Connecticut: A Policy Framework to Accelerate Electric Vehicle Adoption.” It was an ambitious agenda with the goal of putting between 125,000 and 150,000 electric vehicles (EVs) on the road by 2025. As of Dec. 31, 2019, there were 11,677 EVs registered in the state, with those sales accounting for a mere 2% of annual sales.
However, relatively little attention was given to this initiative as more pressing issues relating to Covid-19 and the economic trauma brought about by the pandemic dominated the state”™s focus and the public”™s concerns. However, the Connecticut Green Bank, a quasi-public corporation, remained focused on bringing more EVs to the state”™s roads.
Matt Macunas, legislative liaison and associate director of transportation initiatives at the Connecticut Green Bank, observed that while there are between 12,000 and 14,000 EVs on Connecticut”™s roads today and “we”™re on track to start getting to cost parity for what these vehicles cost up front,” an important part of EV usage still needs to be addressed.
“There”™s the counterpart to the vehicle side, which is how do you charge it?” he asked. “How do you fuel it? That would be through the electric recharging stations of which Connecticut has roughly about 400 at the moment.”
According to the website ChargingHub.com, charging stations can be found in 125 of Connecticut”™s 169 localities, but the distribution of these stations is erratic. For example, Bridgeport, the state”™s largest city by population, has 16 charging stations, but the small neighboring town of Fairfield has 57 stations. But Fairfield”™s large quantity is, itself, unevenly divided: only half of these stations are free and many of them are specific only to Tesla vehicles.
The Connecticut Green Bank has spent much of this year trying to make more charging stations easily available for EV owners. The agency recognized that charging stations were more common at municipal and school properties than private sector sites, and it has sought to address that imbalance.
As a result, the agency is coordinating with Charge Up CT Buildings, an initiative aimed at commercial property owners using the Connecticut Green Bank”™s C-PACE (Commercial Property Assessed Clean Energy) financing tool.
Under the terms of this endeavor, C-PACE loan recipients are eligible for the installation of free electric vehicle chargers on their properties.
“We”™re using the net present value of the income from those C-PACE loans over the course of the next 20 to 25 years to make up the difference of that cost of the EV charging stations,” said Robert Schmitt, marketing manager at Connecticut Green Bank, who added that property owners taking advantage of the initiative can present themselves as a “more modern competitive business.”
Schmitt pointed out that his agency is marketing the initiative as a win-win for private sector properties.
“Right now, we”™re out there with messaging that EV chargers can set your business apart from others,” Schmitt said. “Let”™s say you”™re trying to decide where to do your shopping or where to buy your coffee and there is a store with an EV charger outside; well, that”™s a billboard for their commitment to sustainability and for how forward thinking and modern they are. It might even make you think that they”™re more technologically savvy.”
To qualify for a free EV charging station, commercial properties must utilize at least $150,000 in Green Bank C-PACE financing with at least 20% of the total project costs going toward nonrenewable measures. Larger projects may be eligible to receive up to three charging stations as part of this initiative.
Schmitt noted that office properties can install chargers for tenants whose employees are driving electric vehicles, pointing out that this could be a competitive advantage as property owners scramble to retain and attract tenants and need selling points to stand out from their rivals.
“We want to encourage these building owners to be leaders in the EV movement and not just support the infrastructure, but support and position themselves to be more competitive moving forward,” he said.
Macunas said that two Connecticut-based EV charging station manufacturers, EVSE LLC and JuiceBar, are the program”™s suppliers for charging stations. He stressed that having more locally manufactured charging stations to fuel more EVs could result in both an ecological and economical shade of green for the state”™s economy.
“What you want to see is Connecticut not being left behind in the growing clean energy economy,” Macunas said. “This could provide savings back into people”™s pockets on not having to get their cars maintained quite so frequently or stopping at the gas station at all except for snacks.”
