The city of San Diego, CA has entered into a public-private partnership with Beam Global to install and operate at least 50 solar-powered charging stations. As the units are not tied into the city’s electrical grid they can be installed in as little as five minutes, and require no permitting, no electrical upgrades, and no construction.
“In America’s Finest City, we’re known for pushing the envelope on innovation, often taking the first step in implementing cleaner, greener technologies,” said San Diego Mayor Kevin L. Faulconer. “We’re excited about this collaboration with local manufacturer Beam Global to strengthen the City’s renewable energy options and encourage more people in other cities to do the same.”
The EV ARC™ 2020 charging stations will come at no expense to the city, nor to the drivers that will use them. The stations generate and store their own electricity via lithium-ion battery storage, and are designed to fit the size of a standard parking space. The city and Beam Global are currently seeking sponsorship to cover overhead in exchange for naming rights to the network and on-site advertising.
“The City of San Diego is the ideal choice to launch this unique city-wide EV charging infrastructure initiative and become the first city in the world where it is possible to drive on sunshine, guilt free, emissions free and the best free of all – free, free,” said Beam Global CEO Desmond Wheatley. “Because our products are deployed without construction or a utility bill, we are uniquely able to provide this type of sponsored EV charging network at scale and with unrivalled speed. The sponsors we seek will be enabling the first city-wide driving on sunshine experience in the world and will get the name recognition and carbon and greenhouse gas emissions offsets associated with the networks. It’s win, win, win for the corporate sponsor, the city, EV drivers, and for Beam Global. I believe we will repeat this model in many other major cities because it makes so much sense for everyone involved.”