California has set a target of deploying 5 million zero-emission vehicles by 2030 and 250,000 electric vehicle (EV) charging stations by 2025. While many of these charging stations will serve relatively short trips around each driver’s local community, charging stations positioned near highway exits and spaced at strategic intervals also are needed to enable long-distance EV trips. ChargePoint and its subcontractors installed direct current fast chargers and Level 2 charging stations at 49 sites conveniently located along highway corridors across the state. The process to install charging stations included site acquisition, design and engineering, permitting, construction, utility work and energization, activation on the ChargePoint network, and highway and wayfinding signage. Over a six-month period in 2021, the charging stations at these sites provided a total of 26,344 charging sessions, dispensing more than 405,000 kWh, enabling more than 1.2 million miles of travel, displacing more than 43,500 gallons of gasoline, and reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 307 metric tons of CO2-equivalent.
Lessons learned from this project include that potential site hosts benefit from education about EV charging; the permitting process caused delays at some sites, but AB 1236 and GO-Biz are helping; California’s EV charging station accessibility regulation is interpreted differently across local jurisdictions; coordinating with utilities on energization presents a significant challenge in executing projects efficiently; it can be difficult to find contractors with charging station installation experience in rural areas; demand charges significantly impact the value proposition for station owners; and stacking incentive programs can improve cost efficiency.