ECOtality plugs in first public charging station in Wilsonville

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ECOtality unveiled its first Oregon public electric vehicle charger in Wilsonville.

After months of promises and the recent loss of its top Oregon executive, ECOtality unveiled its first publicly available charging station Tuesday at Wilsonville City Hall.

Wilsonville stepped forward to host the pedestal-style charging station, the first of about 1,100 that will be installed around the state as part of the federally funded "EV Project" being administered by ECOtality.

Rich Feldman, Northwest area manager for ECOtality, said the company is still aiming to have all the public charging stations installed by the end of the year, but site selection is still underway.

Feldman also confirmed that Dave Mayfield, who was hired last February as area manager for ECOtality's Oregon operations, is no longer with the company as of the end of May.

"He returned to consulting," Feldman said, adding that ECOtality is bringing on someone else to fill the position.

In response to criticism that the rollout of charging stations is smaller and later than promised when the project was first announced — ECOtality had expected to start rolling out more than 2,000 Oregon charging stations last year — Feldman admitted predictions were less than perfect.

"This is the largest project of this type in the world," Feldman said. "We've also been pacing the chargers with the arrival of the vehicles, which have also been somewhat delayed."

ECOtality plans to locate the rest of its Oregon public charging stations with business and public sector partners who are willing to host the parking spaces and the charger on their property. ECOtality announced a partnership with Fred Meyer earlier this year and this week announced a similar partnership with Sears.

The charging stations can charge an electric vehicle battery in between 2 hours and 6 hours. Most likely drivers will use smart cards to turn on the charge, affiliated with their account, but smart phones may also be used to activate charging stations in the future.

"The features will roll out as the networks go forward," Feldman said.

Last week, AeroVironment announced its public charging stations slated for Oregon's I-5 interchanges. ECOtality also has its eyes on the I-5 corridor as a crucial area for electrification. For highway corridor chargers, ECOtality will use faster charging stations that take closer to 30 minutes for a charge.

“The City of Wilsonville is excited to host one of the first commercial charging stations deployed as part of The EV Project," said Wilsonville Mayor Tim Knapp in a press release.

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