From left, Board of Public Utilities (BPU) Chair Robert Gibson, BPU member Matt Heavner, watch as Department of Public Utilities Manager Philo Shelton snips the ceremonial ribbon on the new EV charger at the Municipal Building parking lot Monday afternoon along with Los Alamos County Council Vice Chair Theresa Cull and Chair Denise Derkacs. Photo by Kirsten Laskey/ladailypost.com
Spectators check out the DeLorean, complete with a flux capacitor, which owners Jon and Kristie McClellan lent for the ribbon cutting of the new EV charger station at the Los Alamos County Municipal Building. To add to the celebration, the public was invited to guess how long it would take to fully charge the car. Photo by Kirsten Laskey/ladailypost.com
DPU Associate Engineer Steve Horner aka Marty McFly, left, and DPU intern Craig Barber aka Doc. Brown take part in the ribbon cutting for the EV charger Monday afternoon. Photo by Kirsten Laskey/ladailypost.com
DPU employees David Gomez, left, and Pete Mondragon, look at the new DC fast charger along with DPU Manager Philo Shelton, right. Courtesy/LAC
By KIRSTEN LASKEY
Los Alamos Daily Post
kirsten@ladailypost.com
The number of EV chargers in Los Alamos are increasing with the Department of Public Utilities (DPU) snipping the ribbon to officially open its newest DC fast charger for business Monday afternoon.
The EV charger is located in the parking lot at the Municipal Building.
According to handouts at the ribbon cutting, the max power capacity for the new charger is 62.5 kW. It was also reported in materials that the average charging session is a half hour. The cost to charge a vehicle is 35 cents per kWh and it requires an account with ChargePoint. This is the second DC fast charger in the County; the other is located in the parking lot at the White Rock Visitor Center.
To mark the occasion, DPU had a ‘Back to the Future’ theme for the ribbon cutting, which seemed fitting given its commitment to offering the newest technology for vehicles. Jon and Kristie McClellan lent their DeLorean, complete with a flux capacitor, for the event and Associate Engineer Steve Horner dressed as Marty McFly while DPU intern Craig Barber came as Doc. Brown.
“We’re working on going ‘back to the future’,” DPU Manager Philo Shelton said. “A lot of these thoughts started … six years ago in applying for a grant from the state. Both the fast chargers were approved and about six percent funding was from the state through the Volkswagen settlement fund … we jumped on that opportunity …”