Santa Monica EV subcommittee reports 700 chargers citywide, debates Tesla-compatible stations

Ariana Veto, liaison to the EV subcommittee in the Office of Sustainability and the Environment, told the Commission on Sustainability, Environmental Justice and the Environment on April 20 that city-owned EV chargers have grown from roughly 90 at adoption of the city’s EV action plan to about 225 on city property, while a Department of Energy fueling-station database lists about 700 chargers across Santa Monica when private and commercial stations are included.

The update summarized the city’s contracting history and current operations: the city purchased Level 2 stations under a 2018 ChargePoint contract, added DC fast chargers with EVgo in 2021, and recently contracted Greenwealth Energy to operate and maintain Level 2 chargers on city property. Veto said Greenwealth has replaced many long-broken units and will add 30 chargers at Parking Structure 6 at no cost to the city, and that EVgo still operates three public DC fast locations.

The presentation focused on policy, recent programs and capital projects that enabled expansion. Veto described municipal-code changes allowing overnight charging in some parks, an adopted user fee and overstay fines to improve turnover, Electrify Santa Monica rebate programs (expanded to renter-focused appliance rebates), “reach code” building updates to require more chargers in new construction, and major installations funded through Southern California Edison’s Charge Ready program.

Commissioners pressed Veto for specifics about ongoing and proposed installations and compatibility. She said the city has about 50 fleet chargers today (up from 14 in 2017), about 50 more fleet chargers pending, and roughly 200 fully electric fleet vehicles; she also said her team reclaimed about $700,000 in IRA tax-credit value from recent fleet purchases to reinvest in larger vehicles and equipment.

A central exchange concerned a Greenwealth proposal to install Tesla Level 2 chargers at Structure 6 because Tesla vehicles make up a large share of the city’s registrations. "Fifty-four percent of the vehicle registrations in the city are Teslas," Veto said, citing DMV registration data; commissioners including Kelly Olsen and David Pettit worried that installing mostly Tesla-connectors could reduce access for non‑Tesla drivers unless adapters are widely available. Kelly Olsen said Tesla compatibility could ‘‘eliminate a whole lot of usage by people who don't have Tesla connectors.’’ Commissioners discussed the relative cost and reliability of Tesla charging hardware versus other suppliers, whether adapters could be provided or permanently attached, and whether the vendor’s economics (lower hardware cost) would allow the vendor to expand installs elsewhere.

The subcommittee also discussed pilot concepts such as tapping street‑light circuits to deliver curbside chargers at lower per-unit cost; Veto said the street-light pilot has not launched and may not be included in the current CIP cycle. Commissioners asked about hydrogen vehicles (Veto said hydrogen registrations are tiny) and the effect of changing travel and vehicle patterns on future charger counts.

Veto said the EV subcommittee will continue pursuing fleet and public projects, replacing aging units, and seeking grants and vendor partnerships to expand access—particularly in mid‑city and eastside neighborhoods where city parking inventory is limited. The commission took no formal action on the update; public comment and questions from commissioners will feed into future subcommittee work and capital budgeting.