California Beach Cities Welcome Electric Vehicles
Southern California has long been known for two things: air pollution and environmental activism. In an effort to alleviate the former and support the latter, the South Bay Cities Council Of Governments (SBCCOG) has encouraged and studied the use of electric vehicles in the area.
Over the last year, the agency has conducted the Local Use Vehicle (LUV) Project, aimed at providing information on how electric vehicles can reduce greenhouse gas emissions, air pollution and gasoline consumption. Funded by a grant from the South Coast Air Quality Management District (AQMD), the project’s findings have just been released and are being used to locate electric vehicle charging stations throughout the fifteen cities, portions of Los Angeles, and portions of unincorporated Los Angeles County that make up the South Bay area.
Finding that LUV drivers used their vehicles for 46% of all of the miles they
- One Of Many Electric Vehicle Charging Stations Popping Up Around The Beaches Cities
drive, and 72% of their local round trips, it became apparent that infrastructure needed to be provided for this growing segment of the area’s driving population.
In January, the South Bay Galleria mall in Redondo Beach installed its first electric charging station. The City Council of Hermosa Beach has approved the installation of four stations by the end of this year, and Manhattan Beach has plans to include a few stations in its fiscal year 2012-2013 budget. More charging stations are expected to be installed in the area as member cities evaluate the program’s finding and their local needs.
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