Visiting Port Townsend in an electric vehicle has been made more practical thanks to the donation and installation of five EV charging stations.

"Our company made a donation of five charging stations to four businesses and a public parking space outside the Northwest Maritime Center,” said Andy Cochrane of Power Trip.

Three of the five Level II EV stations were installed in January 2015, and the other sites in February, all at easily accessible parking lots.

"We gave away the hardware if the business owners would volunteer to give away the electricity to anybody who came to charge," Cochrane said. "The four private lots are parking by permission and the businesses are giving their permission, intended for customers and out of town visitors, and reasonable after-hours use.”

Two of the charging stations are downtown, three are on West Sims Way in the gateway business district.

– The last parking spot on Water Street in front of the Northwest Maritime Center has been designated as an EV parking spot for the last four years; now there is an EV charging outlet. It is a public parking spot.

– Windermere Real Estate downtown, next to the historic brick gashouse, opened Feb. 3.

– Port Townsend Laundromat and Car Wash, 2115 W. Sims Way.

– John L. Scott Real Estate, 2219 W. Sims Way.

– GreenPod Development, 1531 W. Sims Way.

Until now, the only other public access EV charging stations were the two at Power Trip Energy, 83 Denny Lane at the north end of the Glen Cove industrial park area outside the city limits.

The Power Trip facility generates about 60 percent of its own electricity using solar, so using their charging locations "is actually a way to replace your gasoline consumption with locally generated clean solar energy,” Cochrane noted.

Wild Birds Unlimited, located along U.S. Highway 101 in Gardiner between Port Townsend and Sequim, paid Power Trip Energy in 2013 to install a charging station.

A simple EV charging station, mounted to a building near a parking space, costs about $500 for equipment and $500 for materials and labor. Mounting EV stations on pedestals is more expensive.

The "charger" for the EV batteries is in the vehicle itself. The equipment installed on a building is simply a smart power outlet that turns the electricity to the car on and off in response to commands from the on-board charger.

SEATTLE VISITORS

There are many EV charging stations in Seattle, and in Sequim and Port Angeles, but until now, none in Port Townsend other than at Power Trip’s facility. PT is already a tourist destination, and now within reach by EV owners from the Seattle area.

The best-selling Nissan Leaf EV has a range of about 70 miles, while the Tesla has a range of perhaps 200 miles.

EVs gain about 15 miles of range per hour of recharging, Cochrane noted, so people driving here from Seattle may need four or five hours of charging to make it home.

Cochrane hopes that local business owners, and business neighborhoods, talk about how to promote the EV charging stations such as having transit and transportation information nearby.

"The hope is that we will market this EV charging infrastructure on software that guides EV drivers to find stations, and become yet another reason that we are an attractive tourist destination,” Cochrane said. “We know that Western Washington has among the highest per capita registration rate of electric vehicles, and we know that many of our visitors come from Western Washington. There's not a lot of public transportation, so they all drive their personal vehicles. Now we're going to be able to promote our significant EV charging infrastructure as a reason for them to come to Port Townsend."

BUSINESS SUPPORT

Dave Garing, who with his wife, Jan, is one of the Windermere Port Townsend co-owners, was the business partner who researched and pushed for the EV connection.

"He did the research and checked on the insurance and everything, and really encouraged us to get involved," Jan Garing said.

There is the natural benefit to having a potential real estate customer be able to drive here from Whidbey Island or Kitsap County or the Seattle area, and be able to recharge their EV while spending a few hours with an agent.

Being downtown, the station is available after-hours.

Power Trip will be checking the meters at each of the business locations and keep them informed of electricity use.

“My dream is that so many people use these charging locations that it becomes obvious we need more," Cochrane said. "I want other businesses to say, 'Hey, I want those customers at my place. I want to make my business attractive by installing EV chargers as well.' I'm hoping that perhaps some of the businesses that benefit from those visitors but may not have a suitable parking spot would help to fund the further development of the infrastructure.”