Colin Murchie of EVgo can’t wait for the day he doesn’t have to go to any more events celebrating electric-vehicle charging stations.
“Together we can all do away with EV-charging infrastructure ribbon-cuttings,” Murchie said, envisioning a future when a new charging station was as much of a non-event as a new ATM.
Murchie and a dozen state and city officials gathered Monday to celebrate the installation of four new EV chargers by Electrify America at the North Haven Crossing shopping plaza. The sleek towers offer EV drivers a full charge in as little as 10 minutes, costing about 43 cents a kilowatt, or a little less than the equivalent amount of gas.
“It’s not that sexy and that is fantastic,” Murchie said of EV chargers (his company has a set nearby). “This is not a super-high-tech piece of clean-tech infrastructure. It is a charging station in the parking lot of the Dollar Tree. It should exist where people live, work and play and it should be in a boring part of everyday America.”
Monday’s event was geared toward celebrating Electrify America’s new chargers and the growth of the state’s “green grid,” including the launch in Hamden last week of the first of the state’s 700 electric buses.
“We want to encourage more days like today across the state,” said Marissa Gillett, chairman of Connecticut’s Public Utilities Regulatory Authority. The state is pushing EVs as an option for residents in part to bolster Connecticut’s resilience in the face of climate change, she said.
Katie S. Dykes, commissioner of the Department of Energy & Environmental Protection, and Yale New Haven Health pediatrician Dr. Sanjiv Godse both stressed the importance of green vehicles in the reduction of pollution and its negative health effects.
“It doesn’t have to be this way,” Dyke said of the pollution-caused asthma and other health problems that disproportionately affect communities of color across the state.
Highlighted for commendation during the event were the commercial partners in the charging station, Brixmor Property Group and National Realty & Development Corp., owners and operators of the property. Brixmor plans to install EV charging stations in a quarter of its properties by 2025, Senior VP Daren Moss said.
Merchie of EVgo said that property owners should install EV charging stations when they develop properties to cut down on planning and permitting costs and time.
Stealing the show on Monday was Ronek Patel, described as an “EV enthusiast” in press materials. Patel was attired in a stylish suit and described the wonders of his gleaming black Tesla Model 3, which he said he drove from Connecticut to Chicago mostly on autopilot with only three stops for charging. His car requires little maintenance and offers top driving performance, he said.
“It really is an amazing car,” Patel said, gesturing toward his Tesla, parked nearby. “Electric cars are the best in class now.”
Contact Liese Klein at lklein@newhavenbiz.com.
