Electric vehicle charging station opens at Red 160 apartment complex in downtown Redmond

Published 10:48 am Thursday, June 23, 2011

Electric vehicle drivers now have one more location in Redmond to charge their cars.

The Red 160 apartment complex at 16015 Cleveland St. downtown is now home to a new electric vehicle charging station. Located in the complex’s east building, the station is the first residential charging station in the city and is open to residents and the public alike.

The station was installed and is owned by Car Charging Group (CCG), a Miami Beach, Fla. company.

CCG president Andy Kinard said cars are parked about 90 percent of the time, which is why CCG installs stations in various locations nationwide such as apartment complexes, malls and public parking lots.

“We go to places where cars are sitting anyway,” he said, adding that this way, drivers are not inconvenienced when charging their vehicles.

The station has been operating for about a month and for now, is free for users. Kinard said he needs to look at Washington laws and policies to figure out how he can charge users and for how much, but said it may be around $3 per hour. Customers can pay using a credit card or a preloaded key fob, which they can receive by calling a phone number on the station.

The station is also part of the national ChargePoint Network, which allows drivers to locate charging stations near them by using a computer or smart phone by downloading an application.

The station is a dual charger, which allows two vehicles to be charged at once and offers two charging level options. Level 1 supports 120 volts while Level 2 supports 240 volts. Kinard said it takes about four to six hours to charge a car at Level 2 and roughly four times that long at Level 1. But if drivers plug in their cars overnight, he said the time does not seem as long. Also, he added, most car batteries would rarely be completely empty if drivers plug in their cars each night.

On Wednesday, Kinard was at Red 160 for a short plug-in ceremony and charging demonstration. In addition to learning how to operate the charging station, guests were able to test drive two electric vehicles: A Nissan Leaf and a Wheego LiFe, provided by Woodinville-based Charge Northwest and M.C. Electric Vehicles in Seattle respectively.

Red 160 resident Melinda Rose test drove both vehicles and enjoyed the experience.

“I liked it,” she said after driving the Wheego. “It reminded me of the Smart Car.”

Rose said seeing a charge station in her apartment complex would make her consider buying an electric car if she were in the market for a new car and didn’t love her Volkswagen Beetle so much. She added that if people see more charge stations around, they would be more inclined to buy an electric vehicle.

Karen Caplan, vice president of property management at Equity Residential in Washington, the company that owns Red 160, said her company began talking about installing charging stations in their properties a few years ago. Equity owns apartment communities nationwide and has begun installing stations in various locations across the country. Red 160 is the second Washington property to receive a station — the first one was a downtown Seattle apartment complex.

Caplan said having a station at Red 160 seemed like a good fit because it is a residential and retail space, with a number of restaurants open or opening soon.

“This will be a hot neighborhood in Redmond,” she said.

Caplan added that she hopes they can expand and add more charge stations in the future.

Kinard said he will monitor the new station’s usage and add more stations as they are needed.