How Two Cities are Taking on EV Solar Charging

The City of Alexandria, Virginia, Takes Delivery of first BEAM Solar Charging Station for the City

This month, the city of Alexandria Fleet Management took delivery of the first BEAM Solar Charging Station for the city. 

“We are excited to add this to our growing infrastructure here," said Darryl Syler, CPFP, division chief for fleet, adding that this will be used to charge city vehicles as well as for public use.

Fleet has been working with BEAM Solar for the past several months to make this come together, according to Syler. 

"Everyone is pleased," Syler said. "We hope this is one of many more to come. The city has a sustainibilty policy that is fully backed by the mayor, council, and city manager and fully aligns with the city manager's climate action office."

The Beam Charger came in at $88,000 and was funded from by the city's Fleet Fund as a trial to see if more might added in the future. According to Syler, the fleet is currently working to secure CIP funding for future projects, such as changers in various fleet parking locations and DC fast charging.

The city has more than 25 EVs in their fleet including the Nissan Leaf, Ford Transit Van, Ford F150 Lighting, and the Ford Mach-E Mustang. The goal is to continue replacing the fleet with EVs and Hybrids, as long as they are able to support the department's mission.

Los Angeles Department of Recreation and Parks Adds Third Follow-On Order of Beam Global EV ARC Off-Grid Solar Charging Systems

The city of Los Angeles Department of Recreation and Parks has placed its third order for solar-powered EV ARC charging systems, their largest order thus far, according to Beam Global. The off-grid systems will be used to fuel the city’s growing fleet of electric vehicles. 

The City of LA’s EV ARC charging systems each fit in a standard parking space and are equipped with two Enel X Way JuiceBox Pro EV charging stations. Each EV ARC system generates and stores its own clean electricity and delivers that electricity to power the city’s EVs day or night, and during inclement weather and power outages. The charging systems are transportable and can be relocated as charging patterns emerge and change.

Los Angeles’ EV Master Plan aims to have 123,000 EV chargers by 2030. The state of California expects 12.5 million EVs on California’s roads in 2035 and that 1.2 million public and shared chargers will be needed by 2030. To help achieve this goal, the California Energy Commission (CEC) approved a $2.9 billion investment plan to accelerate California’s EV charging goals.

Editor's Note: This story has been updated to reflect pricing and funding for solar charging.