More public charging stations for EVs will be coming soon

QI’ve been poking around San Jose, and as an EV owner, I’m disappointed in the city’s public charging infrastructure. If you look at a charging map, there are some pretty massive holes, including in neighborhoods directly adjacent downtown.

— Chuck Martin,

San Francisco

AThere are holes, but the South Bay will soon fill some gaps with more charging stations. San Jose is working with PG&E to install 172 charge points at Happy Hollow, two lots at police headquarters, the Mabury Service Yard and the South Service Yard. They will be available for use by the city’s fleet, its employees, and in most cases, also the public. Construction will begin late this month unless the shelter-in-place directive is extended.

In addition, there are three active clusters of chargers in the city. These are at the Bank of America Financial Center on Bernal Road, the Plaza Shopping Center and the Princeton Plaza Mall. There are plans to install more in other locations in

San Jose next year.

QMy wife and I frequently drive to Southern California. We are pondering getting an electric vehicle, but where on Highway 101 can we get a charge, if needed?

—Fred Yates, San Jose

AThree solar-powered fast-charging stations have been installed at the Camp Roberts rest areas along 101 in Monterey County and the Shandon rest stop near Highway 46 in San Luis Obispo County.

QI always read your columns and enjoy them very much. Your level-headedness is legendary.

But I find the bickering over the $100 registration fee for electric vehicles a little amusing and wanted to reach out with a few thoughts.

First, California currently offers a $2,000 rebate for electric vehicles purchased in California, which should be plenty of incentive to buy an EV. You can get up to $7,500 from the feds as well. I recently bought an EV, and I am not grumbling over the $100 registration fee to do my part for the upkeep of our roads, perceived by most people as being fair, and that’s good enough for me.

The bickering is unhelpful, and I commend you for the way you deal with the issue without belittling your green letter writers who feel so passionate about climate change. People should buy electric vehicles and hybrids because it is the morally right thing.

A $100 annual fee shouldn’t be part of the calculation as to whether or not a person does the right thing. It is the symbolism of the fee that greens are arguing about, not the benefit or harm that it will cause the environment. Continue being patient with us tree-hugging EV drivers. We mean well.

— Peter Douglas, TheMerc’s-Green-Rides-Guy

AI know you do.

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