When HMC Development opens the Woodspring Suites now under construction they will have a built-in advantage over the competition.

The 122-room extended stay hotel will have 68 parking spaces equipped — not just wired for — electric vehicle chargers.

That represents half of the 137 parking spaces being put in place for the four-story hotel being built on the southeast corner of Atherton Drive and Airport Way.

That means the odds of a guest being able to find a space where they can charge their EV will be extremely high.

It effectively eliminates the need to either charge elsewhere or to wait and move to a limited number of on-site chargers when they become available as what happens at other newer hotels with EV chargers.

It will also make Woodspring Suites the largest cluster of EV charging stations in Manteca.

The interchange of Airport Way and the 120 Bypass is essentially becoming ground zero in Manteca for charging options, although Woodspring Suites’ would be reserved for guests.

There is a Tesla Supercharging station on the northeast corner of the interchange next to Sizzler’s.

Manteca Crossing — anchored by what will be Manteca’s second Food-4-Less on the southwest corner of the same interchange — has a bank of about two dozen chargers in place.

The other Manteca hot spots for EV chargers are Orchard Valley at Union Road and the 120 Bypass.

There is a Tesla Supercharger station in front of Bass Pro and another EV charging complex in front of Valley Fitness.

Southeast of Yosemite and Spreckels avenues is a Tesla Supercharger station in front of Target and another bank of chargers near Applebee’s.

Manteca preparing for

20% of local cars being

electric vehicles by 2030

The climate action plan for Manteca adopted by the City Council calls for the city to set the stage for 20 percent of the cars driven by Manteca residents to be electric in 2030 and 55 percent by the year 2045.

The state mandated local climate plan requires require the installation of EV chargers at commercial locations and new residential projects.

Among the EV charger related goals in the plan are:

* Targeting the installation of EV charging stations capable of charging electric trucks along the Highway 99 and 120 Bypass corridors.

*Seeking funds to support electric vehicle charging technology.

 *Requiring charging stations as part of new development.

*Updating the Municipal Code to require identify potential sites for  electric vehicle charging stations within the city limits.

*Targeting the installation of at least five electric vehicle charging stations by the year 2030 and at least 10 by the year 2045.

*Establishing targets by 2025 for the number of EV charging stations installed at public parking areas.

*Requiring the installation of electric vehicle charging stations at all new municipal facilities that include vehicle parking.

*Requiring the city to identify existing municipal facilities where electric vehicle charging stations could be installed.

*Exempting EVs from payment of parking fees to encourage use of EVs within the city should the city construct or operate areas with paid parking.

Some of the proposals are already being put in motion in recently approved plans for new apartment complexes.

Manteca already has met its 2030 goal of having at least five free-standing EV stations in place that are not directly tied to a commercial development per se.

And while the city is in the process of installing EV chargers at the Civic Center, they have not yet met the 2025 goal of establishing the number of EV charging stations to be installed at public parking areas such as city owned or leased parking lots in downtown.

Manteca has come a long way since the first EV chargers in the city were installed as part of the $7.3 million transit station built in 2013 at Moffat Boulevard and South Main Street. Those chargers are still the only public ones that get their electricity from solar panels that were installed over 51 of the complex’s 100 parking spaces.

But, as the city’s climate action notes, it is not enough.

The climate action plan is the city’s blueprint for its overall efforts for Manteca to reach state imposed greenhouse gas reductions.

To contact Dennis Wyatt, email dwyatt@mantecabulletin.com