‘First-of-its-kind’ electric vehicle charger pilot program coming to Tumwater

OLYMPIA — A new electric vehicle charger will be piloted in Tumwater’s Pioneer Park.

The Tumwater City Council unanimously voted last Tuesday to approve the purchase and installation of the two-port Level-2 charger, which will be off-grid, solar-powered, battery-backed-up, ADA-accessible and free for all to use.

This charger is used in California and New York, but it will be the first of its kind in Washington, said Alyssa Wood, City of Tumwater sustainability coordinator. It provides about 300 miles of charge per day, works during outages and powers bikes and wheelchairs in addition to vehicles.

“This is a pilot to see if this kind of charger will work well in Tumwater,” Wood said.

If it does, the charger may “scale up” with similar chargers installed in city parks and facilities across the Pacific Northwest where trenching and limited electrical capacity make it hard to deploy charging.

“Pierce County has already expressed interest in following our pilot,” Wood said.

The charger is part of Tumwater’s commitment to the Thurston Climate Mitigation Plan and will increase the capacity of the city’s EV charging resources and aid in its efforts to reduce carbon dioxide emissions.

To fund the charger, the Washington State Department of Commerce awarded Tumwater an $87,052 grant, including pre-pay for six years of operation, maintenance and warranty. The city matched that grant with $12,742 from its General Fund allocation for Sustainability Initiatives.

Tumwater may charge for use after the six years are up.

“This is an outstanding accomplishment,” council member Joan Cathey said. “It makes me very proud, and proud of Tumwater.”