New electric vehicle charging stations officially opened Wednesday on Santa Barbara’s Eastside, a milestone for the neighborhood.
City and project leaders hosted a ribbon-cutting ceremony at the Santa Barbara Public Library’s Eastside Branch on Wednesday to mark the opening of four public electric vehicle charging stations.
The 400-kilowatt DC charging stations are powered by carbon-free electricity through Santa Barbara Clean Energy. They are among “the fastest chargers on the Central Coast” and came at no cost to the city, according to Mayor Randy Rowse.
Charging for 10 to 15 minutes adds 200 miles to the vehicle’s range, according to Jefferson Litten, energy and climate division manager with the City of Santa Barbara.
The new stations also mark the first expansion of electric vehicle charging into residential areas, according to Litten.
Before the addition, electric charging stations were found in downtown city parking lots and at the Harbor Main Lot.
The move into neighborhoods comes with the hope that residents will be more inclined to purchase an electric vehicle.
“These chargers can serve not only the Eastside Library patrons but also residents in the neighborhood who don’t necessarily have access to an EV charger at their home,” Litten said. “This makes the transition to electric vehicles both more accessible and more equitable.”
More than $500,000 in funding for the stations came from state and local grants and includes Senate Bill 1, which invests in transportation projects.
The Senate Bill 1 funding was allocated through the Santa Barbara County Association of Governments by the California Transportation Commission.
“There’s something fitting about putting this investment here, where there is a library and a community center, a place that is already about connecting people, resources and opportunity,” Marjie Kirn, SBCAG executive director, said Wednesday.
The chargers are open every day, 24/7, at 1102 E. Montecito St., and the cost depends on time of day and season, corresponding to the price of electricity. The fees will be the same as the other existing public chargers, according to city officials.
On Wednesday morning, the chargers showed it would cost motorists 37 cents per kWh.
They aren’t the only electric vehicle charging stations new to the South Coast. In Goleta, 24 new Tesla Superchargers also opened Wednesday at the Camino Real Marketplace.
The shopping center at 7004 Market Place Drive already had 12 Tesla Superchargers, but the new set features longer charging cables and a “more powerful cabinet.”
The new stalls are expected to charge a Tesla Model Y vehicle from 10% to 80% in 20 minutes, according to Mark Ingalls, property and general manager of the shopping center.
The charging price ranges from 48 cents to 72 cents per kWh, depending on whether the vehicle is a Tesla, according to the Tesla website.
The additional chargers bring the number of Tesla chargers to 36, including three accessible ones, at the Camino Real Marketplace, according to Ingalls.
Electrify America also offers six universal electric vehicle charging stations, and Costco has two electric vehicle chargers within the shopping center, he added.
“The existing Tesla charging stations have been in constant use since opening, so the additional 24 chargers should help reduce wait times to charge while also shortening individual charging times,” Ingalls told Noozhawk in an email.
