Edmonds Manager: Charging Stations ‘Having an Increasing Impact on Visitors’

Editor's note: Bothell resident Jim Stevens is Facilities Maintenance manager for the City of Edmonds. He was in charge of managing the installation of the six ChargePoint electric vehicle stations in Edmonds. He now manages the stations as part of his regular facilities and project duties.

I have a good story to relate about our we have installed.

I parked in the Public Safety Complex lot on Wednesday to attend the rollout, and when I returned to my car I noticed a member of the public plugging his Nisson Leaf into one of the two electric-vehicle charging stations there.

So I went up and introduced myself and told him about how I was taking pictures on Tuesday of our installations for possible use by ChargePoint on their new Web site. He said he would definitely would have been part of my picture if I had seen him then.

He told me how great it was that the city was supporting electric vehicles by installing this infrastructure, and said he was a member of a Nissan Leaf users' group that was aware of the Edmonds stations. He indicated he and his group were visiting the city more because of the stations.

He mentioned attending a movie at the theater, and eating dinner recently, and being glad he could return to a fully charged car. He also said he needed to use his heater a good deal of the way from Everett and was happy the stations were here to ensure he could return without worry.

It is evident to me that we are not at the point where these stations are making a great deal of money for the City, but word is getting out and they are having an increasing impact on visitors.

There are times when you really feel good about what you've done on the job, and this was one for me.