Beaverton charges up with OpConnect

Beaverton made a local choice Thursday when officials christened the city's first official charging station developed by OpConnect LLC.

The OpConnect station was installed outside the Beaverton Library and developed at the company's Beaverton headquarters a few miles away.

OpConnect, a longtime player in the market for aerospace software, shifted gears last year to develop a touch-screen electric vehicle charging station. OpConnect CEO Dexter Turner said he expects the charging station to be the first of many installed in Beaverton and around the United states.

Features of the charging station include:

• The ability to tap into renewable energy sources such as wind and solar energy.

• Programming for time-of-day charging.

• Charging capacity for up to four vehicles at a time.

• Email and text alerts to inform drivers of interrupted or completed charging.

• A smart phone application to direct drivers to the closest available station.

The Beaverton station will provide basic charging services for free to the public.