Installation of the Month (April 2021): Hilton Hotel & Plaza San Gabriel

Hilton is one of the most recognizable and respected organizations in the world. They own 18 different brands and more than 6,400 properties in 119 countries. Since 1925, they’ve been a model of the hospitality industry – synonymous with customer relations, integrity and innovation, which extends into areas like sustainability and the environment. Their website’s “Corporate Responsibility” page cites a commitment to fighting climate change, stating: “We seek to operate and grow sustainably, reducing our consumption of natural resources… We are proud to have set carbon reduction targets aligned with the Paris Climate Agreement.” And they continue to back up this commitment, including recently asking us to install EV charging banks at one of their key Los Angeles locations.

As such, our featured site for April is the Hilton Hotel & Plaza located at 225 and 227 West Valley Boulevard in the city of San Gabriel, about 10 miles northeast of downtown LA. See it here:

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Hilton+Los+Angeles%2FSan+Gabriel/@34.0798006,-118.1020363,15z/data=!4m8!3m7!1s0x0:0xcc63da5b0a5522ce!5m2!4m1!1i2!8m2!3d34.0798006!4d-118.1020363

The 4-star property features luxuriously appointed guest rooms and suites with signature Hilton Serenity beds, blackout curtains, mini fridges, Italian marble bathrooms and bath amenities by Peter Thomas Roth. Downstairs, hotel guests can make use of a fully functional business center, conference rooms, fitness center, indoor lap pool and modern restaurant serving Asian fusion dishes. A rooftop terrace with fountain and spacious ballroom each offer stylish event accommodations. Next door, the Plaza boasts dozens of shops, eateries, even a day spa. Moreover, the property is less than a mile from the San Gabriel Square Mall and just a short drive from key points of interest like the Staples Center, Little Tokyo and downtown Arts District. See more on the Hilton website here:

https://www.hilton.com/en/hotels/laxsghf-hilton-los-angeles-san-gabriel/

Much of our focus has been on installing chargers at social and leisure destinations – areas outside of commuters’ workplaces and homes – to facilitate electric mobility as a viable lifestyle alternative to internal combustion. Retail outlets and hotel chains are a critical part of that strategy, especially now that COVID has led many more people to opt for road trips over flying, making this a prime time to exploit EV technology. For the San Gabriel property, our installation included four DCFCs on the hotel side of their underground parking garage and another four on the plaza side along with four Blink Level 2 chargers. The DCFCs are 50 kW Slim Lines with integrated cord retractors, 15-inch color displays, up to 480 VAC, and a better than 90% efficiency rating. The Blinks boast an ergonomic pedestal design, ground monitoring circuits, and an output voltage of 208 to 240 VAC.

The convenience of being able to charge your EV overnight during a hotel stay, while shopping or while attending an event at the property cannot be overstated. According to a recent Autolist.com poll of 1,600 car shoppers, two of the top three reasons given on why EVs would not be a consideration were driving range and lack of charging infrastructure. Overcoming biases against EVs will, therefore, require increasing publicly available charging sites that eliminate concerns about range, accessibility and convenience. Brands like Hilton are in an especially enviable position to motivate a change in attitudes, not only because they have innumerable locations, but also because they can offer complimentary charging for guests, further reducing the cost of transit, which addresses the third most cited reason for avoiding EVs.

All this said, we want to thank our client Hilton for trusting us with this installation and for giving their patrons not only the choice but an added incentive to go electric – yet another reason why they continue to be leaders in the world of hospitality!

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Navigating California’s New EV Mandate

California’s going all in on electric. On August 25th, Governor Gavin Newsom made a very important announcement concerning the future of transportation in the Golden State: “We can solve this climate crisis if we focus on the big, bold steps necessary to cut pollution. California now has a groundbreaking, world-leading plan to achieve 100 percent zero-emission vehicle sales by 2035.” Big and bold, indeed. And while highly encouraging, it brings up a number of questions moving forward.

How EVCS is Repairing Reliability Concerns

One of the biggest concerns among EV drivers today is the reliability of public chargers. One recent survey from the Department of Bioengineering at UC Berkeley claims as many as 23% of public chargers in the Bay Area alone are, as Wired sums up, “nonfunctioning at any given time, stymied by broken screens, shoddy credit card or payment systems, network connection failures, or damaged plugs.” And that’s in a locale prioritizing the conversion to electric. Testimony from motorists seems to corroborate these findings. A CEC survey of 1,290 EV drivers found that fully 60% had experienced damaged or inoperable chargers, while almost half needed assistance from customer service. We find this wholly unacceptable and have taken measures to ensure that chargers in the EVCS network rise to the standard of operability our customers expect. Here are a few ways we’re doing that:

Installation of the Month (July 2022): Kenwood Inn & Spa

A key focus for us over the last several years has been the installation of additional chargers at holiday hot spots, tourist destinations, and other key points of interest. Not only will it help dispel long-range travel anxiety among many new EV drivers, but it will also lead to a significant reduction in carbon emissions otherwise generated by gas-guzzlers during peak vacation seasons. Moreover, our egalitarian approach to site selection means we’re just as likely to install a charger at a McDonald’s as we are at a Morton’s since we understand the value in catering to a broad clientele. However, higher net worth individuals continue to drive EV sales in the US (a June 2021 Fuels Institute study specifies middle-aged males with household incomes over $100,000), so catering to venues that offer a luxury experience will encourage even greater participation by this group while serving as a bellwether for lower-income drivers who are attracted to the idea of electric mobility as a symbol of status.

Mexico to Canada EV Road Trip: EVCS Interview

We sat down with EV owner and enthusiast Anthony Williams, a 60-year-old business owner from San Diego, who recently commemorated the 10-year anniversary of his first trans-American road trip in an EV by retracing the same route to see what had changed in the world of EV fast charging, for better or for worse. Below are some of his insights and feedback.

Installation of the Month (June 2022): KPC Anaheim Global Medical Center

“For us, healthcare is not only about caring for our patients, but also about investing in the people who live in our communities.” These are the words emblazoned across the home page of the KPC Anaheim Global Medical Center’s website. Facilities like these are attractive partners for us because, like us, their goal is the betterment of humanity. In fact, just replace “healthcare” with “electric mobility” and “patients” with “planet,” and you have the EVCS mission statement in a nutshell. Allying with kindred spirits creates a natural synergy for us through the sharing of core values like customer service and an improved quality of life. Imagine then our excitement when KPC decided to install four of our newest DC fast chargers on their Anaheim property, giving us the opportunity to continue expanding our network southward.