Photo By Justin Bruffett | Level 1 electric vehicle charging station in the parking area for Bldg. 4700, Fort Sill.... read more read more
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FORT SILL, Okla. (Oct. 25, 2022) – Fort Sill is installing Level 2 electric vehicle charging stations at select locations and will be receiving fully electric vehicles with the next government vehicle order.
"Greenhouse gas emission reduction, that’s what the whole effort is about," said Paul Padgett, Fort Sill Energy Program manager. "The Army will lead the way for private industry to follow."
Padgett's sentiment mirrors Executive Order 14057 which states, "Federal Government can catalyze private sector investment and expand the economy and American industry by transforming how we build, buy, and manage electricity, vehicles, buildings, and other operations to be clean and sustainable."
"It’s a pretty broad-based program, but mostly what we’re concerned about here is the GSA fleet," said Padgett.
The General Service Administration or GSA wants to have charging stations available before they start to roll out the electric vehicles themselves.
Padgett added that most of the non-tactical vehicles in use on Fort Sill are leased through the GSA, although there are some vehicles that are owned by specific directorates.
“Greenhouse gas emission reduction, that’s what the whole effort is about.” – Padgett
Even those entities that own their vehicles have initiatives in place to convert their fleets to fully electric in order to meet the mandate set forth in E.O. 14057 of having "100 percent zero-emission light-duty vehicle acquisitions by 2027."
Charged up
Padgett said there are three types of charging stations: Level 1, Level 2, and Level 3.
"Level 1 is fairly slow and has a low power output and it takes a considerable amount of time to charge an EV. Level 2 chargers are the current choice for installation on Sill. They have a higher power output and amperage, and are faster than a Level 1, but still take a few hours to charge a vehicle. Level 3 are the fast chargers that can charge a vehicle within an hour as opposed to several hours."
According to Joshua Carnahan, Fort Sill Department of Public Works engineer, a Level 2 charger averages 4-6 hours for a complete charge.
Fort Sill has a few older Level 1 charging stations that belonged to a program started several years ago, however, they have fallen into disuse.
Padgett said the initial four locations were chosen based on the amount of GSA vehicle use and the electrical infrastructure already in place.
These are Bldg. 4700 the Fort Sill Welcome Center, Reynolds Army Health Clinic, Bldg. 6017, and Bldg. 2412.
Each location will soon have a dual-port Level 2 charging station installed nearby that is capable of charging two electric vehicles at one time.
"The environmental quality division has to approve the locations and the plan, especially where trenching for new electrical lines is involved," said Padgett.
He added that these charging stations are for Government vehicles only, however, AAFES is developing a plan to deploy fee-based charging stations for privately owned vehicles sometime in the future.
Installation of these charging stations will begin very soon possibly within the next few weeks.
"The contract has already been awarded and now it's just a matter of working through the steps to get them put in place," said Padgett.
| Date Taken: | 10.25.2022 |
| Date Posted: | 11.04.2022 17:38 |
| Story ID: | 432619 |
| Location: | FORT SILL, OKLAHOMA, US |
| Web Views: | 87 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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