The Electrify America charging network wishes to develop the use of electric vehicles in rural areas of California. The company has just commissioned 30 4.3 kW charging stations that are not connected to the electricity network.
Beam Global’s 2 EV ARC slow bollards are powered by solar panels installed in the shade above them. The 24 cities thus equipped are located in the Central Valley and in southern California.
In line with Electrify America’s roadmap, these locations aim to ” facilitate regional travel and promote the adoption of electric vehicles in rural communities ».
Free recharge
Half of these new stations are also located in low-income areas. This is why their use is free.
Due to ease of access and relatively long parking time, 20 stations were installed in parking lots of medical centers. The remaining 10 were deployed in coordination with the Fresno County Rural Transportation Agency.
In order to be usable at night or in bad weather, the stations are equipped with a storage battery. Electrify America does not specify its energy capacity today. However, Beam Global offers 3 options in its catalog: 24, 32 or 43 kWh. The announcement made in March 2020 mentioned a 32 kWh pack.
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Author’s opinion
Electrify America has accustomed us to deploying fast chargers, and even ultra-fast ones. These are not free to access. The investment in hardware is far too large for that.
We could applaud the commissioning of the 30 solar stations available free of charge in rural areas. But I came up against one of the objectives targeted by the establishment of these infrastructures: “ facilitate regional travel “. With 2 cars recharging simultaneously, the current delivered is barely stronger than that obtained from a domestic socket in France.
It’s hard to imagine that a power of just over 2 kW helps develop electric mobility. Especially with stations which are undoubtedly offset from the homes.
To supplement existing networks already locally, it is always good to take. But if these are rare charging points open in these areas, it is far too unambitious!
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