EV Connect, an electric vehicle (EV) charging management solutions company, has commissioned its first two projects through a program with California’s largest electric utility.
As a vendor in the EV Fast Charge Program from Pacific Gas and Electric Co. (PG&E), EV Connect worked alongside the utility and with multiple partners, including Gilbarco Veeder-Root, to identify sites and deploy charging stations. EV Connect will deploy over 40 DC fast charger (DCFC) stations, including several high-power DCFC stations of 180 kW, with 10 sites awarded to date across Northern California and two sites activated.
Under the program, to date, EV Connect has deployed eight Tritium 50kW-capacity DCFCs in California between a United Park convenience store in Chowchilla and an SWS Fuel-managed convenience store in Madera. The SWS Fuel store was chosen for its 24/7 operating hours, location in an economically disadvantaged community, and proximity to California State Route 99.
Taking advantage of the EV Fast Charge Program and the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District rebate, EV Connect worked with SWS Fuel to shepherd the project from site evaluation through activation. All make-ready infrastructure was funded by PG&E, including design, permitting and infrastructure construction. EV Connect installed and activated the charging stations on the EV Connect platform, through which it will provide station connectivity and operational support to SWS Fuel.
“We are excited to participate in the program and work alongside an industry leader like EV Connect to deploy charging stations around the state,” says Rajdeep Singh, manager at SWS Fuel. “This collaboration positions us for larger-scale EV adoption and directly supports our mission to build a cleaner transportation future in California.”
In 2018, the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) approved $22.4 million in funding for PG&E to expand publicly available EV charging through the Fast Charge program. By 2025, the program anticipates the deployment of 200 DCFCs at qualifying customer sites. Under the program, 25% of the DCFCs will be located in disadvantaged communities, and supplemental rebates will be available to qualified program participants.
“EV Connect is pleased to work closely with utilities like PG&E to deploy fast-charging stations across their service areas,” sastatesid Ram Ambatipudi, senior vice president of energy and utilities at EV Connect. “Beyond being an approved vendor in this program, we look forward to continuing to lend the expertise of our team to facilitate the buildout of a public charging network that makes high-power charging accessible in underserved communities.”
EV Connect will provide certified charging hardware, installation, operations support resources and its open-standards-based EV charging network management platform to the PG&E EV Fast Charge Program participants. Through automated data reporting, the program participants who select EV Connect will benefit from the company’s project management experience, joint marketing and compliance with utility requirements. With EV Connect, participants can select from a range of EV supply equipment from multiple manufacturers, which can then be centrally managed and monitored with advanced charge station analytics using the EV Connect platform. The EV Connect platform also features compliance with the OpenADR standard in anticipation of advanced grid management requirements like demand response.