More electric vehicle chargers are just around the corner in Yakima

An electric future for Washington’s roads is fast approaching. In 2022, the state set a goal of ending the sale of new, gas-powered cars and shifting to their electric counterparts by 2035 to lower vehicle emissions.

One piece of this complex transition is the infrastructure needed for charging. It’s a challenge that local businesses, national companies and the state government are working to meet.

Yakima businesses, from local brewery Single Hill to the chains like Starbucks and Hilton, are installing charging stations. At the state level, the Department of Commerce is unveiling a grant program to fund electric vehicle infrastructure in underserved communities.

That transition could be picking up pace in Yakima County, where the number of electric vehicles increased from 553 to 782 in the last year, according to state data.

Coleen Anderson, co-founder of environmental group 350 Yakima Climate Action, noted the effects of increased carbon dioxide in the earth’s atmosphere, including warmer summers, colder winters, stronger storms and more frequent droughts and forest fires.

Carbon dioxide is one of the emissions of burning gasoline. As a greenhouse gas, it traps heat in the atmosphere.

“Since transportation and internal combustion engines contribute the most to climate change, the speedy transition to electric vehicles is crucial,” Anderson said. “It’s important that electric vehicle charging stations are installed not only locally in Yakima but also on the main highways between cities.”

Businesses step up

Single Hill General Manager Zach Turner took the lead in installing the chargers at the downtown Yakima brewery on the corner of Naches Avenue and Staff Sgt. Pendleton Way. The Level 2 charging stations could open in the parking lot next week.

“It’s really kind of a personal motivation for me to contribute to decarbonization,” he said.

In the fall, Single Hill will host a promotional event for the new chargers, which will be available to the public with a fee.

Turner said the chargers were funded using a grant from Pacific Power. He hopes they will encourage people to use electric vehicles and added that this was done for the intrinsic good it provides.

“Hopefully it will bring people here, but we’re not counting on it,” Turner said.

The charging stations are from company Zeff Energy. Level 2 chargers can take several hours to fully charge electric vehicles before drivers can go on their merry way.

“They’re like ‘park, come inside and have a beer’ chargers,” Turner said.

New charging stations also were added in the Hilton Garden Inn parking lot nearby, and to the Grandview Museum and Naches Event Center earlier this summer. Eight new stations are under construction along U.S. Highway 12 near White Pass and in Lewis County.

Starbucks

A handful of DC fast chargers, which can charge a vehicle in 15 to 20 minutes, are about five minutes from downtown Yakima for those in more of a hurry.

Starbucks, Volvo and ChargePoint, an electric vehicle charging company, have partnered to install those fast chargers along a 1,350-mile stretch of highway between Seattle and Denver, including at a location on Nob Hill Boulevard and First Street.

“Seattle and Denver are two of the fastest growing EV markets,” said Tiana Noble, a Starbucks spokesperson. “This corridor between Seattle and Denver is underserved.”

Charging stations were installed roughly every 100 miles, which Noble said works for most electric vehicles, in Washington, Idaho, Utah, Oregon and Colorado. There will be chargers at a Starbucks in Issaquah and, after Yakima, Hermiston.

It’s a pilot program to see demand and use by the public, Noble added. There are no requirements that drivers shop at Starbucks, though the charging stations are free for Volvos. They should be compatible with most vehicles and other drivers can pay using the ChargePoint app.

“These chargers will be available to any driver of an electric vehicle,” she said. “You don’t need to buy a cup of coffee. They are open to the public.”

Noble said this partnership is part of several other sustainability initiatives that Starbucks is piloting before possibly growing them in the future.

“We’re trying to use this pilot program to understand the impact on our customers and communities before scaling,” she said.

Testing things out

Anderson said she recently bought an electric vehicle and anticipates using the fast-charging stations on long trips.

For the most part, she said, she can charge her vehicle at home overnight.

She doesn’t need to fully charge her vehicle every time she uses it, she added. Charging an electric vehicle to 100% regularly can reduce that vehicle’s battery.

“They’re pretty fast, they only take 15 to 20 minutes to charge to 80%,” she said of the chargers. “There’s really no reason to charge to 100%.”

Anderson said she’s already taken some longer trips on the highway, venturing to Oregon in her new electric vehicle. She was nervous the first time due to the lack of charging infrastructure, she said, but there was no lack of electricity and no long lines.

“So far, it’s been no problem,” she said. “But that’s going to increase as more people get EVs.”

Funding for infrastructure

A new state program is set to pour more than $130 million into electric vehicle infrastructure before 2025, with a focus on underserved communities and multifamily housing projects, said Department of Commerce Media Relations Manager Penny Thomas.

Applications for the Washington State Electric Vehicle Program opened this week and $64 million is available this year, primarily for public chargers and multifamily housing.

Deborah Reynolds, clean transportation managing director at the Department of Commerce, said the state has targets of 31,838 multifamily chargers, 3,230 public fast chargers, and 3,912 public Level 2 chargers by end of 2025.

“The priority is getting these chargers out into the community for the greatest benefit,” Thomas said. “Forty percent of the funding, almost half, is going to underserved communities.”

The Department of Commerce is targeting communities that may not have access to electric vehicle chargers by targeting community nonprofits, electric utility companies, tribal entities and local public agencies, including local governments, school districts, port districts and housing authorities.

Any of those groups can apply in partnership with businesses or other community members, Thomas said.

Awards depend on the number of chargers and the type of chargers – DC fast or Level 2 – but they can be as high as $723,000, according to a presentation from the state’s Electric Vehicle Coordinating Council. Local utilities must be involved in the application.

Applications opened Sept. 6 and are not first-come, first-serve, Thomas said. The grant program is being administered in partnership with the Center for Sustainable Energy, a nonprofit that will provide free technical assistance and webinars for applicants.

“That’s why there’s a neutral entity. It’s totally transparent,” Thomas said. “We want to make sure everybody has that equal opportunity.”