The Sacramento Regional Transit District (SacRT), along with the Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD) and GiddyUp EV, Inc., have partnered to bring a new high-speed electric vehicle charging hub to the Power Inn light-rail station.
The new charging hub is anticipated to go live in October 2021 and will be one of the largest charging hubs in the state when built out.
This public-private partnership will deliver a state-of-the-art charging solution for Sacramento’s growing electric vehicle market, meet the region and state’s sustainability goals and provide a revenue sharing model for SacRT. SMUD estimates nearly one million electric vehicles in the region by 2040.
This project represents an opportunity for SacRT to begin development of mobility hubs at light-rail stations to add amenities and e-mobility options for transit users and transit-oriented development.
“The Power Inn Station charging hub is truly a groundbreaking public-private-partnership that more than just advances environmental and economic goals of the region. It serves as an additional resource for our riders with first-and-last mile connectivity,” said SacRT General Manager/CEO Henry Li. “We are excited to welcome riders to our system with safe, convenient, and new services that improve the customer experience.”
The new charging station hub will be fully networked and integrated and will impact 55 of the 299 parking spaces located in the light-rail station park-and-ride lot. The first phase includes 10 high-speed charging stations that can accommodate up to 20 vehicles, installation of solar canopies, Wi-Fi and future battery storage for public/private use. Partnership negotiations are also underway for future connectivity to first and last mile solutions such as electric scooters and bikes.
With power supplied by SMUD, this high-speed and integrated charging network would advance electric vehicle adoption in the region, help meet environmental and economic goals of the state, while providing added services to various mobility users.
“I’m so proud of this project,” said SMUD Board Member Heidi Sanborn. “When we set our ambitious zero-carbon by 2030 goal, we knew that partnerships would be critical to reducing emissions and keeping costs down while attracting new investment in the region. We also committed to ensuring no community is left behind. This groundbreaking public-private partnership expedites making clean mobility available to all our customers and demonstrates how fast we can do it. It expands EV charging availability as well as provides solar energy and battery storage for our grid. It’s a win-win for our entire community.”
GiddyUp EV is financing the purchase and installation of the fastest DCFC/Level 3 chargers in the industry, which will have the ability to recharge light and medium vehicles simultaneously in minutes compared to hours-longer than a normal plug-in charger.
