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SINGH WANTS NEW GAS STATIONS TO HAVE AT LEAST 3 EV CHARGERS
Mayor: Manteca needs to make EV charging for vehicles at new fueling stations mandatory instead of just installing infrastructure
EV chargers gas station
An example of a gas station with EV chargers as well.

Submit plans for a new station in the future in Manteca and you may have to install at least three EV chargers.

During Tuesday’s discussion that led to a 45-day temporary moratorium on new gas station applications while Manteca reworks rules regarding where future proposed gas stations can be located, Mayor Gary Singh said he’ll push to require new applicants to install at least three EV chargers.

State law as of Jan 1. requires new concerns being proposed that require 10 parking spaces or more to have a minimum of three EV charging ready spaces that ultimately can have EV charging stations.

During public input Leonard Smith, a former planning commissioner and longtime advocate of requiring solar and EV chargers on commercial projects, made a pitch to require EV chargers to be included with new gas stations.

Smith argued it made no sense to just have them “EV charger ready.”

Singh agreed.

If the council eventually agrees, Manteca will be one of the first cities in California to require new fueling stations to actually install charging stations.

In recent years, 18 to 25 percent of all new vehicle sales in California have been EVs.

California also wants to eliminate the sale of new vehicles powered by carbon-based fuel sources by 2035 even though the federal government under President Trump has blocked the state’s ability to do that for now.

Such a requirement can’t legally be imposed on five gas stations the city has already entitled and other four that are in the planning review process.

Singh said he would encourage the developers of those projects to consider installing EV chargers.

At least one of them, a fueling station approved to be installed along with a Circle K convenience store on the southeast corner of Union Road and Lathrop Road has included EV chargers in their plans.

The developers also plan on having solar powered signage.

Shell several years ago started an effort to covert up to 1,000 stations worldwide into EV charging hubs.

It’s first such project in the United States involves converting a Shell station in Piedmont in Alameda County in the Bay Area into a charging hub to accommodate 14 vehicles after removing gas tanks and fuel pumps.

To contact Dennis Wyatt, email dwyatt@mantecabulletin.com