Portland General Electric Installs Charging Stations for Battery-Powered Vehicles
Published Feb 13, 2009
Among the battery-electric cars driven in Portland is the Toyota RAV4-EV.
Brian Toye’s life with an electric car just got a whole lot more convenient.
Portland General Electric in September 2008 started installing six plug-in stations with plans to add more.
One is in Lake Oswego, where Toye and his family live. Another is in Oregon City, where the stay-at-home dad often shops. His 2007 ZENN, which has a dedicated circuit in the family’s garage, can go about 30 miles on a charge.
“We did sell a 5-series BMW, which was burning through $2,500 a year in fuel,” Toye says. “The ZENN will run us less than $70 a year, and it is doing the exact same job.”
Portland already leads the country with the highest per capita ownership of hybrid vehicles – 17 per 1,000, compared with two per 1,000 nationally, according to Bill Nicholson, vice president of customers and economic development for PGE.
Along with local and state governments, the company wants to position Portland for the next wave of hybrid plug-in and all-electric vehicles, making the region hospitable to owners as well as manufacturers.
“We wanted to get out there early and with the right signals,” says Joe Barra, PGE’s director of customer energy resources.
Porteon Electric Vehicles, a startup company, already is setting up shop in Portland, and PGE officials say they’ve had “extensive discussions” with major auto manufacturers to ensure that future car lines will be compatible with PGE installations.
The charging stations are an all-local affair. Shorepower Technologies built them, and Smith Creative Group came up with the look: a sleek blue-and-silver unit with an attention-getting recycled tire on top. The host government or business, Nicholson says, pays about $2,500 for the charging station and connection, and PGE provides renewable energy for the power.
During the current test period, hooking up is free.
Additional charging stations in Portland are at the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry, the Two World Trade Center garage and PGE headquarters on Salmon Street. Other locations being considered include the Nike complex in Beaverton, Shorenstein Realty Services, Columbia Sportswear and local government offices.
Story by Pamela Coyle
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