Worcester Business Journal

12 Worcester Business Journal | March 19, 2018 | wbjournal.com Electric vehicle charging stations are increasingly popping up in Central Mass., as worldwide adoption of EVs nears 1M BY GRANT WELKER Worcester Business Journal News Editor CHARGING UP C huck Anderson, an infor- mation-technology net- work architect, commutes about 55 miles each way between his job at Worcester Polytechnic Institute and his home in Woburn. He can't remember the last time he went to a gas station. He charges his all-electric Chevy Bolt for free at work. "I think about that all the time," he said of getting a free fill-up. "I literally haven't been to a gas station in months." For years, electric car charging sta- tions were in a classic chicken-and-egg situation. Do communities and proper- ty owners build stations, hoping they'll draw people with electric or hybrid cars? Or do those cars need to show up on the road first? In Central Massachusetts at least, that riddle is solved. More stations are popping up, and they're being used far more than ever. A national leader Massachusetts has 511 public-use charging stations with nearly 1,500 charging outlets, the sixth highest in the country, according to the U.S. Department of Energy. Nationwide, charging stations number more than 19,000. One of the newest Central Massachusetts charging stations was installed last November at the Framingham service plaza off the MassPike, part of the state Department of Transportation's efforts to have charg- ing stations on Massachusetts highways. WPI provides its six charging outlets for free to faculty, staff and students. Powering the vehicles cost the college about $250 in November, the most recent month available, or about $1 a charge, said Liz Tomaszewski, WPI associate director of sustainability and facilities systems manager. The 250 charges that month included 40 different users. "It's a pretty steady demand," Tomaszewski said. Another large employer, UMass Medical School in Worcester, offers free charges to its employees. The school first installed chargers on a pilot basis in 2014 and has added over time to now include eight for all electric vehicles – two able to charge in about four hours, or twice as fast as the others – and three used specifically for Teslas. UMass Memorial Medical Center's Memorial Campus also has two plug-in stations. "We see it more as an incentive to encourage EV ridership," said Suzanne Wood, the medical school's sustainabili- ty and energy manager. A garage UMass built about five years ago just up Plantation Street from the medical school did not include chargers – but wiring and conduits were installed to make it easier to add them in the future. A survey of 1,047 medical school employees found 15 charge their electric vehicles there, and another 69 said they'd consider buying one. Another 166 said easy access to charging stations would affect their decision to buy an EV. One such user is Julie Jonassen, a professor in the medical school's micro- biology and physiological systems. Jonassen commutes about 45 miles each way between Worcester and Belchertown but rarely has to put gas into her 2017 Chevrolet Volt plug-in hybrid. She plugs in each day at work and at home, where she uses energy generated by her rooftop solar panels. Of the 43,000 miles she's put on her car, Jonassen said 90 to 95 percent have been powered by electricity alone. Jonassen said she has seen the rise in EV use in just the past six months. "Now, so many people at UMass are driving electric vehicles that I can't always get a spot," Jonassen said. The most used Central Mass. stations Those stations at WPI and UMass Medical School are the most-used in Central Massachusetts, according to ChargePoint, a station vendor that manages them for an additional fee. One port at WPI alone was used for 510 charges last year through late November, according to ChargePoint. ChargePoint said it has seen a direct correlation between the number of electric cars on the road in an area and the number of stations that property owners buy. In all, ChargePoint has 42,000 charg- National charging station growth 0 4,000 8,000 12,000 16,000 2012 0 5,000 15,000 25,000 35,000 45,000 '96 '16 '14 '12 '10 '08 '06 '04 '02 '00 '98 Number of national charging stations 42,011 3,394 194 Source: U.S. Department of Energy Note: Starting in 2011, electric charge equipment was counted by the plug rather than by the geographical location. 2012 0 5,000 15,000 25,000 35,000 45,000 '96 '16 '14 '12 '10 '08 '06 '04 '02 '00 '98 Number of national charging stations 42,011 3,394 194 0 500 1,000 1,500 2,000 1/1/'15 1/1/'16 1/1/'17 Number of Central Mass. charging sessions 10/1/'17 1,560 609 Central Mass. charging station uses As the number of charging stations has grown in the region, their use by electric vehicle drivers has increased. Source: ChargePoint Note: Stations within a 20-mile radius of Worcester P H O T O / G R A N T W E L K E R Chuck Anderson is one of about 40 users to charge an electric vehicle at WPI.

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