Charging station for electric cars installed

The Nevada Department of Administration Fleet Services Division is nearing completion of phase one of its long-term strategy to incorporate electric vehicles (EV) into the mainstream travel needs of state employees. As part of the plan, an electric charging station is now available on the south side of the Richard H. Bryan government building, located at 901 S. Stewart St., Carson City, for state employees or the public to use for their vehicles.

The project supports Gov. Brian Sandoval’s plan to increase energy efficiency and the use of alternate fuels throughout the State of Nevada.

The location was selected because the building has a high concentration of state employees and is centrally located for those who work, live or do business within the area. Later this year, a second station will be installed at the Grant Sawyer government building, at 555 E. Washington Ave. in Las Vegas.

“Nevada has always taken a proactive stance in the alternative fuel arena and this charging station is one spoke in that wheel,” said Keith Wells, Fleet Services Division Administrator. “This is an exciting advancement for Nevada’s Fleet Services program.”

ChargePoint was selected as the charging station vendor and is the largest EV charging station operator in the world with nearly 30,000 charging spots. There’s no cost to use the charger, and anyone with an electric car and a ChargePoint account can use it.

The charging station is a standard Level 2, 6.6 kW unit with two plugs (aka ports) which can accommodate two electric cars. Two parking spaces are reserved in front of the charging station for a maximum of four hours usage per site visit.

Typically an EV is connected to a home charger overnight and takes about eight hours to charge a car from zero to fully charge. Mileage varies but most fully charged vehicles can drive up to 75 miles. An EV owner with a fully charged car coming from Reno to Carson City might only need a quick 30-minute top-off at the Bryan building to replenish its charge, before driving back to Reno.

Fleet Services currently has 77 hybrid electric vehicles which have energy efficient attributes but still operate using gas rather than electric power. However, over the next five years, Fleet Services plans to incorporate about 100 electric powered EVs into its inventory for even greater energy efficiency and cost savings for the state.

An additional future component of the Fleet Division’s alternative fuel program is to provide an EV Car-Share program in which one electric car can be shared by many employees throughout the day for work-related travel. Once the EV Car-Share program is operational, it will be stationed at one of the two reserved ChargePoint parking spaces.

Funding for the station is a joint effort with money or in-kind resources from the U.S. Department of Energy, the Governor’s Office of Energy, the Nevada Division of Environmental Protection, State Public Works, the Fleet Services Division, and the Department of Administration’s Director’s Office.

To learn more about the Fleet Services Division, go to www.fleetservices.nv.gov. To learn more about ChargePoint, go to www.chargepoint.com.