If you’ve driven around Sendero, you might have noticed these units installed in front of some of the public parking spaces:
EV Charging Station in Sendero
Those are electric vehicle charging stations, and we think it’s a great idea that they’ve been installed in a couple locations throughout Sendero. The photo above is outside the Ranch House in Sendero, the photo below is in front of the Hacienda in Gavilan.
EV Charging Station Outside the Hacienda in Gavilan
As the use of plug-in hybrid or electric vehicles (EV’s) grows in popularity, the transportation grid needs more public EV charging stations. In addition, Sendero is designed to encourage the use of Neighborhood Electric Vehicles (NEVs for short, for more information about NEVs in Sendero, see here), NEVs will require charging stations as well. As of March 2013, there were less than 6,000 public EV charging stations in the country, with only ~16,000 public charging points, of which less than 4,000 were located in California. Thus, for owners of EVs and NEVs, the use of these vehicles is largely limited to round trips that can be made on a single charge. The Village of Sendero isn’t going to change that nationwide, but it is making it easier for residents to use EVs and NEVs locally. Sendero has been marketed as “green” — from the NEVs to the solar panels to other green designs. It’s nice to see Rancho Mission Viejo Company put their money where their mouth is by installing these charging units. We’re not joking, either — these charging stations are expensive. If the Sendero stations above are the same model as we found below, the unit alone is nearly $15,000, with wiring, installation and maintenance extra.
Marketing Photo of GE EV Charging Station
We’ve heard anecdotally that it can cost as much as $25,000 or more to install a single public charging station. We imagine as the Ranch Plan is built out, these charging stations will appear throughout the development, including in some of the retail centers and other public spaces. When that’s done, the units will help create a network that truly will facilitate the use of NEVs for local transportation. Another nice touch from the folks at Rancho Mission Viejo Company.
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