As you drive around San Diego, you may have noticed that there are more and more electric vehicles (EVs) on the road. Our region is currently home to about 50,000 plug-in vehicles, and that number is growing every day.
With more people driving electric, finding a place to charge is more important than ever, especially at home and at work.
SDG&E’s Power Your Drive Program has brought over 3,000 EV chargers to apartment buildings, condominium complexes, and workplace locations. And recently, SDG&E filed a proposal with the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) to bring another 2,000 to the region.
If you build it, they will come
Many of the participants in our Power Your Drive Program have seen more people making the switch to EVs due to improved access to charging.
MA Engineers, a San Diego-based leader in sustainable mechanical and plumbing engineering, is one of many workplace locations where Power Your Drive EV chargers have been installed.
When asked why he wanted EV chargers installed at his workplace, Tom Lunneberg, director of sustainability at MA Engineers, said it was all about accessibility. “The old saying is true – ‘If you build it they will come,’” he said. “Once we had the EV chargers installed, two additional employees purchased EVs.”
According to Tom, having the EV chargers at MA Engineers enables their employees to maximize all-electric driving. Employees can charge while at work, and before heading to meetings.
“As a company that does a lot of energy efficiency work in buildings, having accessibility to electric charging seemed like a natural extension to our mission,” Tom said. “And EVs are our future. They are cost-effective and help improve the air quality in our region. Hopefully more workplaces encourage this growing trend.”
Meeting customer demand for EV charging
The CPUC approved SDG&E’s Power Your Drive Program as a four-year pilot program in January 2016. It was a first-of-its kind program for the region. Power Your Drive focused on encouraging EV adoption by reducing cost barriers and providing access to charging for underserved customer segments. Within two years, the pilot was fully subscribed, and customers continued to add their names to an interest list.
Today, the interest list includes several hundred properties and organizations looking to have EV charging infrastructure installed on their property by SDG&E. In order to meet that demand, SDG&E filed an application with the CPUC in November to extend the program.
More information
For more information about Power Your Drive, visit this webpage. To learn more about EVs in general, including pricing plans for charging an EV and fuel cost comparisons for driving an electric vs. a gas car, visit sdge.com/EV.