On January 16, about thirty people braved the cold to enjoy hot drinks and snacks at a celebration of Acton’s first electric vehicle (EV) fast chargers, located at Veterans Field at the corner of Great Rd. and Main St. Karen Root Watkins, a volunteer with Energize Acton, a collaboration between Mass Energize and the Town Acton, organized the event with Environmental Analyst Lauren West of the Sustainability Office.
The two EV chargers are Level 3 DC fast chargers, which supply direct current power. They can charge vehicles quickly, adding up to 100 miles of range in 30 minutes, according to ChargePoint, from whom the town purchased the chargers. The cost is $0.45/kWh. For comparison, Acton Power Choice, the price for electricity through the Town’s aggregation program is $0.33 to $0.36/kWh at this time, including delivery. How does kWh translate into mileage? Acton Select Board member and Energy Coach David Martin explained, “A gasoline car might get 30 miles per gallon, which is .9 miles per kilowatt. On an energy-to-energy basis, electric cars are about 4 times as efficient as gasoline cars.”
Root Watkins said, “It’s really great that the town is committed to clean energy. I’m really happy that the town has a Sustainability office and staff that can get grants to pay for these chargers.” The grant came from the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection’s Electric Vehicle Incentive Program, according to a December press release from Town government.
According to that press release, the Town also received $64,515 from the Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources (DOER) Green Communities Division to help reduce energy use and costs by implementing clean energy projects, including purchasing electric vehicles.
The chargers have been available for use since last fall. West said, “We are really excited about the new chargers and we hope people will use them. Stop for your errands and plug in!”
In addition to these fast chargers, Acton has installed ten town-owned Level 2 EV chargers with a total of 20 ports. Addresses, a location map, and information about cost and required connector types for the town-owned chargers is on the Sustainability Office website.
Other public chargers are located at Acton Ford, Discovery Museum, Knox Trail, and Nagog Woods. The only other public fast chargers in town besides these new ones at Veterans Field is at Acton Ford in South Acton. Chris Abatsis, General manager at Acton Ford, says their six level 2 and six level 3 chargers are part of the Blue Oval charge network and are also accessible through Chargepoint. He points out that people can charge any vehicles at the chargers, not just Ford cars. Pricing depends on delivery and supply rates but is in the same ballpark as the Town’s chargers.
Carolyn Davis contributed to this article. She chairs the Energy Committee of Green Acton.