Navy Leads the Way in EVs

I’m back in San Diego again this week on another business trip, and I saw what I’d like to think is the future of automobile technology. I saw this on, of all places, the main Navy base.

California has been leading the way in environmental initiative and technologies since at least the early 1970s.  For example; California was the first state to mandate strict emission controls on automobiles which are now standard on all vehicles in the US. More recently, California has been leading the way on zero emission vehicles by using various strategies to promote Electric Vehicles (EV).

Then we have the Navy (motto: “The Right Way, the Wrong Way and the Navy Way”) doing their own thing. Occasionally, the Navy gets something right (even if it’s by accident). This time, I think the Navy does get it right.

I spotted this in the parking lot by a Navy Exchange outlet on the main naval station:

Even more impressively, the two reserved parking spaces had an EV charging station:

The entire setup appeared to be very new, judging by the fresh green paint lines and the fact that the charging station still had plastic wrap on the handles.  I didn’t see any payment collection equipment on the charging station, so I’m assuming that an electric charge will be free. Given that parking on the Navy base is at a premium, just getting two spots for reserved parking like this was a challenge in it’s own right. So I’m giving a big shout-out to the Navy for leading on support of EVs, and hoping to see many more like this in other places around the US.