The Central Coast Charge Ahead Project

The Central Coast Charge Ahead Project installed 40 dual-port electric vehicle charging stations (78 ports total) in nine communities and 25 separate sites located in the tri-county Central Coast area (Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo, and Ventura Counties). Communities engaged included the cities of Carpinteria, Buellton, Paso Robles, Arroyo Grande, Ventura, two leading Community Colleges -- Moorpark College and Ventura City College, and the Counties of Santa Barbara and Ventura. Two private site hosts (Treder Commercial Property in Santa Margarita and Decker Outdoor Corporation in Camarillo) were added to the project following the withdrawal of three originally programmed site hosts (the City of Santa Barbara, the City of Goleta, and the California State Parks – including Hearst Castle and Morro Bay.)

The purpose of project was to improve the availability of electric vehicle charging in publicly accessible locations -- thereby promoting the use of plug-in electric vehicles. The project investigated the effect of assessing fees to electric vehicle drivers for use of the charging stations as well as various fee structures. The project also tracked the process and cost of purchasing, installing, operating, and maintaining charging stations.

Site hosts were selected for the project based on strategic location and ability to commit to ongoing operation of the stations when the project is complete. ChargePoint supplied the charging stations at a 25 percent discount, providing a substantial element of the required matching funds. ABM supplied the installation engineering and labor. Each site host signed a Site Host Agreement prior to installation certifying their alignment with CEC program requirements. Each charging station supplied data that was analyzed by the EV Alliance for information on usage patterns.