CAMPBELL, CA – Laguna Beach city leaders recently joined representatives from Coulomb Technologies to celebrate the installation of two new ChargePoint Network electric vehicle charging stations in the city’s downtown district. 

The EV stations are located near the corner of Forest Avenue and Broadway in downtown Laguna Beach. An unveiling ceremony on June 21 featured charging demonstrations of several electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles, including a Chevrolet Volt, Nissan Leaf and Tesla Roadster.

At this time, charging a vehicle at the new stations is free for four hours per day. After the four-hour limit, the vehicle must be moved to allow other vehicles to use the stations. 

ChargePoint Network services offer EV drivers the ability to check real-time status and location of unoccupied charging stations, to reserve a charging station, to track and report greenhouse gas and gasoline savings, and to receive charging status notifications by SMS, e-mail or smart phone (iPhone and Blackberry) applications. 

Coulomb’s ChargePoint Network is open to all drivers of plug-in vehicles and all manufacturers of electric vehicle charging stations.  

The charging equipment was provided through a grant from the U.S. Department of Energy, and the city of Laguna Beach paid for the installation. The stations are a part of Coulomb’s $37 million ChargePoint America program, which offers thousands of free EV charging stations for public and home charging to individuals and businesses. The charging stations were supplied by Coulomb regional distributor Clean Fuel Connection, which used contractor Linc Group for installation.

Coulomb Technologies’ ChargePoint Network is quickly expanding its presence in California. Just last month, Google deployed more than 70 ChargePoint Network-managed EV charging stations at Google headquarters in Mountain View, Calif.  The charging stations service employee-owned electric vehicles as well as the company’s growing car sharing program for Googlers (GFleet), which includes Chevrolet Volts and Nissan Leafs. Google has plans for 250 more charging stations on its campus, and hopes to make 5 percent of its campus parking EV-ready. 

“By investing in new, green transportation technologies, Google is making a significant contribution to reducing our own greenhouse gas emissions,” said Rolf Schreiber, Google’s technical program manager of electric transportation. “Our EVs and charging stations are part of our broader green transportation system that includes biodiesel shuttles that Googlers use to commute to work instead of driving their own cars. But we’re only one company among many, so we hope our green transportation initiatives serve as a model for other companies to incorporate sustainability programs into their own workplaces.”