Local energy provider Ava Community Energy (Ava) and EV Realty have executed a long-term service contract to build Oakland’s largest public EV fast-charging hub to bring publicly accessible EV fast-charging to the city and reduce emissions to improve air quality.
Under the 10-year contract, EV Realty will develop, build, own, and operate a 33-stall EV charging project at the Oakland City Center Garage, which is centrally located to help serve adjacent disadvantaged communities. EV Connect, an EV charging management solution from Schneider Electric, was also chosen to construct and service the project under a multi-year agreement.
"We're looking forward to collaborating with EV Realty and EV Connect to bring meaningful environmental change to the residents of Oakland," said Nick Chaset, CEO of Ava. "We believe this project creates a winning solution for local residents by bringing access to charging infrastructure to a part of our community that is often overlooked."
The project contract also enables Ava to set prices to ensure utilization and benefits to the community while allowing EV Realty to provide the infrastructure that enables drivers to quickly and reliably charge their vehicles. Additionally, the contract structure provides project revenue certainty to support private investment in public EV charging solutions.
Construction on the Oakland charging hub is expected to begin in early 2024 and is projected to be operational by Q4 2024.
Once complete, this will be the largest public fast-charging site in Oakland, according to the companies, and the site is projected to increase the overall amount of public fast-charging infrastructure in the city by nearly 45%.
