Clallam County residents who own or lease electric vehicles now have access to at least 10 public charging stations stretching from Hobuck Beach to Sequim, ensuring they are never far away when an electrical “fill-up” is necessary.
But many of these stations are used infrequently, much to the disappointment of those who have installed them as a benefit to owners of electricity-powered cars.
“Mine is used somewhat infrequently,” said Steve Methner, who installed a recharger outside his insurance business at 611 E. Front St. last June.
“I haven’t, that I know of, had anybody use it in the last month or so,” Methner said.
“It is free, and I keep it mostly as a convenience to my customers as more and more of them start to have electric cars.
“But I am happy to let anybody use it who needs a charge.”
Methner, who owns a Chevy Volt, uses the station every day he is at work to recharge his vehicle.
“It is hugely convenient for me because I [rarely] have to buy gas,” he said.
“I think I’ve bought three tanks of gas since April, and each tank costs about 25 bucks.
“It is an electric car with a generator in it, so it will go 30 miles or so, and then the motor turns on if you run the batteries out.”
The charger installed about two years ago at the Domaine Madeleine Bed & Breakfast, 146 Wildflower Lane between Port Angeles and Sequim, also is rarely used by the public.
“It hasn’t really been used by guests at all,” innkeeper Stephen Fofanoff said.
“I think we have had maybe two or three guests use it in the past couple of years. We’d love [more of] them to use it. ”
At Rainshadow Coffee Roasting Co. at 157 W. Cedar St. in Sequim, visitors are welcome to plug their cars into an external electrical socket.
“It is just basically an outdoor outlet, and we went online and designated it, saying people could plug in here,” said barista Nick Batcheller.
“It is just a regular outlet. I’d say we only have two cars a month.”
Batcheller, son of the owner, would enjoy seeing more people charging up their cars outside the coffee shop in the future.
“We think it is really cool that people have electric cars, and the hope would be they come in and hang out here in the coffee shop to use the Internet or just relax while they charge up their car,” he said.
Countywide outside the Port Angeles city limit, the exact usage at each station is not tracked by the Clallam County Public Utility District, officials said.
The city of Port Angeles tracks overall consumption at its recharge station located at 220 N. Oak St. in the new esplanade area near the waterfront.
The station is part of the Waterfront Transportation Improvement Plan Sponsorship Program, and the materials and installation were provided at no cost to the city.
“The city does not track the number of vehicles that use the charging station, but the station did provide an average of 245.75 kilowatt hours [kWh] per month to electric vehicles in 2014 at an average cost per month of $38.74,” said Gregg King, city power resource manager.
The station outside the Nikola Broadband building, 224 W. Washington St. in Sequim, is tracked by the company.
The latest figures are available online at www.nikolabroadband.com.
As of 3:15 p.m. Friday, the station had dispensed 179 kWh since Jan. 9.
That amounts to about 806 miles for an electric vehicle, saving about 34 gallons of gasoline from being used and preventing about 683 pounds of carbon dioxide from seeping into the atmosphere, according to the website.
While the overall demand seems to be low now, the rapid growth in the number of charging stations countywide has been in anticipation of a future increase in the availability and popularity of electric vehicles in years to come, said Andy Cochrane, co-owner of Power Trip Energy in Port Townsend.
“The economics are there, and the electric vehicles that are available right now are awesome cars and are just plain nicer to drive,” he said.
“And the price of the cars has come down to the point where, if it works for your driving style, you can save a ton of money on driving expenses.
“In my family, we have a Nissan Leaf, so I am leasing a car that was $1,000 down, 200 bucks a month, and it is definitely the nicest car I have ever driven.
“It drives like a sports car, and we get a range of about 70 miles on it, so it covers almost all the driving that we do.”
Electric vehicles are also silent, he noted.
“It is very quiet, and there are no exhaust fumes,” he said, “so it doesn’t smell bad.”
While some stations in Clallam County are free for public use, others cost the user a fee.
Information about the recharge stations in Clallam County can be found online at www.plugshare.com.