Electrify America Opens Second EV Charging Station in Santa Barbara

Electrify America has opened its second charging station for electric vehicles (EVs) in Santa Barbara.

The station, which is located at 36 West Carrillo Street, offers 20 “Hyper-Fast” EV chargers that deliver speeds of up to 350 kilowatts, adding up to 20 miles of driving range per minute.

The 20 chargers have Combined Charging System (CCS) connectors. These are charging plugs that allow EV owners to charge their vehicles at either a regular pace or a high speed.

Later this summer, Electrify America plans to convert some of the CCS connectors to the North American Charging Standard (NACS) as part of its pilot program.

Electrify America’s pilot program expands “NACS/J3400 support across our Hyper-Fast network, while continuing to support CCS drivers.” This method will help the company figure out its long-term NACS strategy.

Additionally, the charging station comes with a 1.9-megawatt battery energy storage system (BESS), which is currently the company’s largest. During times of low usage, the system obtains energy via the electrical grid, which is possible when there is a significant amount of solar energy.

As it obtains energy in this manner during low usage periods, the BESS can release it when demand is high. According to Electrify America, this method maximizes the use of renewable energy and improves charging performance while reducing strain on the electrical grid.

“By incorporating advanced storage technology, we’re able to bring Hyper-Fast charging to locations that have traditionally been difficult to serve, while making it easy for customers to integrate charging into their daily routines in the heart of downtown Santa Barbara,” Electrify America President and CEO Rob Barrosa said in a press release issued by the company.

The West Carrillo Street charging location, which is where the former Greyhound bus depot used to be, is the second EV charging station in Santa Barbara. The first station was installed at 3790 State Street.

Across California, Electrify America has five sites in total. Each station has 20-plus high-speed chargers, allowing many EV owners to quickly charge their cars at one time.

Senator Monique Limón, President pro Tempore of the California State Senate, told Electrify America that switching to EVs will become a “matter of savings” for Californians. This is because of increasing gas prices in the state and across the nation.

Electrify America has charging stations in almost every state, yet the company is doing more than just installing these stations to promote EV usage. The company is also investing over $2 billion to promote access and infrastructure for zero-emission vehicles.

Gregg Hart, a member of the California State Assembly for the 37th District, spoke to the company, underlining that more EV charging stations would quicken the pace of California’s complete transition to EV usage.