BELLEVUE, Wash. — As more and more electric vehicles hit the road in Washington, officials at Puget Sound Energy are hoping to ease the stress of finding charging stations to plug into through their Up & Go Electric for Workplace program.
"Charge anxiety is a very real thing for all EV drives so we feel our role can be to help fill those gaps," said Heather Mulligan, who manages Clean Energy Solutions at PSE.
The gap Mulligan is referring to is charging an EV while the driver is at work.
"We know the two most popular places for drivers to plug in is at home overnight and at the workplace," added Mulligan.
The program, which started as a pilot about five years ago, is now their permanent workplace charging program which gives selected small to medium-sized businesses who apply an option to have installation and maintenance paid for by PSE or incentives for PSE to put them in.
So far PSE has received 40 workplace applications and is evaluating them based on factors like community impact, geographic diversity and likelihood of utilization.
PSE said the program is important if Washington plans to meet its lofty goal of phasing out gasoline-powered vehicles by 2035.
"Clearly the infrastructure needs to be there so as an employer we want to do at least our part and offer that benefit," said COO of PeaceHealth Elliot Kuida.
Kuida said the company was alerted to the program by an employee and after looking into it, decided to apply and install two charging stations with two plugs each.
Kuida said they're looking into working with PSE to add eight more chargers with the option to add 12 more down the line in their new garage opening next winter.
"EV culture changes your mindset on how you plan your day," said Nathan Davidson.
As the person in charge of emergency preparedness for several PeaceHealth hospitals and clinics in Washington, Davidson said he had previously considered buying an EV but needed a game plan for when and where he was going to charge it.
"One of the things I think about is how I'm going to charge my EV before I go home," said Davidson.
The four new charging stations at PeaceHealth were enough for Davidson to bite the bullet and buy a Tesla.
"Having it right here next to my office is a huge benefit," said Davidson who added it's a perk he hopes to see from more businesses and not just for employees.
"You go to get a burger and you get a charge, you go to the store you get a charge so I think the more we can increase that culture and community of EV-centric life the better and more sustainable we'll be in the future."