SAN FRANCISCO : ChargeNet Stations opened the first DC fast charging station in a rapidly expanding network of electric vehicle (EV) chargers at quick-serve restaurants across California. The leading DC fast charging network developer is celebrating its first operational station at a South San Francisco Taco Bell® location. ChargeNet Stations has a partnership with Diversified Restaurant Group, one of the largest Taco Bell franchisees, to install DC fast chargers at 100 locations throughout the state, with many additional stations planned. The agreement includes the installation of primarily 75kW and 100kW chargers, with plans to roll out 150kW stations as well.
3Degrees, a firm that helps organizations around the world achieve renewable energy and decarbonization goals, worked with ChargeNet Stations to develop an innovative financing approach that guarantees the company a minimum amount of value from its first 25 public charging stations for the next five years. This strategy leverages California’s Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS), a program designed to reward the deployment of equipment and infrastructure that reduces transportation emissions in the state.
“Our goal at ChargeNet Stations is to make EV available to everyone everywhere – to democratize EV charging by providing a fast, convenient, and affordable charge,” said Founder and CEO Tosh Dutt. “Great partners like 3Degrees help us expedite our mission. It’s good for the planet and it’s good for business.”
ChargeNet Stations is compatible with all EV connector types and offers a 100-mile charge in 20 minutes, or less, for about $20. For context, a 100-mile charge on a Level 2 charger would take about six hours.
Transportation is California’s largest source of greenhouse gas emissions, representing 41% of the state’s total1. The LCFS was launched in 2011 to reduce emissions from this hard-to-abate sector. The program allows companies using, producing, or furthering the use of low carbon fuels to generate credits to be sold at market-value to fossil fuel producers. The program also incentivizes the deployment of DC fast chargers by providing a guaranteed minimum number of LCFS credits for the first 5 years of the station’s life, reducing concerns around infrastructure utilization.
The program does not, however, guarantee the price of the credits generated from this infrastructure, and the LCFS market has been particularly volatile of late, dropping from ~$150 at the start of the year to lows of ~$60 in early October. Despite this state of flux in the market,
“Meeting California’s EV adoption and transportation decarbonization goals requires mass deployment of EV charging infrastructure,” notes Dave Meyer, Director, Transportation Markets at 3Degrees. “One of the primary barriers to this deployment is uncertainty around utilization. The infrastructure provisions of the LCFS reduce this uncertainty, and our innovative financing arrangement eliminates market uncertainty. We congratulate the ChargeNet Stations team on this first station opening and look forward to working together on many more.”
