Community Corner

Seal Beach Becomes First OC Beach to Offer Electric Vehicle Charging

The city opened two electric vehicle charging stations at the beach parking lot on Monday.

Seal Beach became the first Orange County beach city to offer electric vehicle charging stations at the beach Monday.

The city officially opened two electric vehicle charging stations at the 8th Street beach lot on Monday, and a third station at the Main Street parking lot is expected to be ready for use within a week. The three charging stations will each be able to service two vehicles at a time and can fully charge a vehicle in eight hours.

“The city continues to be on the forefront and a leader in the eco-friendly, go-green attitude,” said Seal Beach Mayor Michael Levitt at a ribbon cutting ceremony Monday afternoon. The ceremony brought out local business leaders who support the stations as a draw for people to come spend time and money in Seal Beach as well as electric vehicle enthusiasts.

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The number of charging stations in Orange County is still fairly low, but federal funding to support electric vehicles will likely lead to an increase in the number of local stations available, said Leo Galcher, newsletter editor for the Electric Vehicle Association of California.

Twelve years ago the city installed electric charging stations but then pulled them out five years ago for lack of use.

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Since then, hybrids and electric vehicles such as the Hybrid Ford Escapes, the Nissan Leaf, the General Motors Volt and the BMW Mini have rapidly grown in popularity.

Galcher, a San Clemente resident who built his own electric vehicle by converting his BMW 10 years ago, said the newer generations of electric cars are more convenient for drivers. Now, cars such as the Nissan Leaf come equipped with systems that tell the driver where to find the nearest charging station. Most importantly, today’s electric vehicles have standardized plug-ins, making charging stations much more feasible and economically viable, said Galcher. Electric cars such as the $103,000 Tesla Roadster can go from 0 to 60 miles per hour in 3.7 seconds, and they get 245 miles per charge.

More moderately priced cars such as Chevy Volt are also defying old perceptions about electric vehicles.

Max Wry, drives a Volt for his work as area sales manager for Safelite Auto Glass in Westminster.

“I love it. It’s such a cool car,” said Wry. “It feels very heavy and solid and has lots of power.”

Being able to charge at the beach would be an added bonus albeit one that the boss might wonder about if it happened too often, laughed Wry.

“It’s phenomenal. It gives visitors a chance to go green and, at the same time, they can charge a vehicle while they are here shopping and dining and enjoying our weather,” said Seal Beach Chamber of Commerce President Erik Dreyer Goldman.

State law prohibits the city from passing the costs of the electricity on to consumers, so people can charge their cars for less than a few dollars per hour in Seal Beach.


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