Officially EV-Friendly: Los Altos Cuts the Ribbon on Charging Station

A large crowd gathered in a place not usually known for crowds Thursday afternoon—in the Civic Center parking lot.

And for good reason in this early-adopter town.

Los Altos celebrated its first-ever electric vehicle charging stations, right outside the Bus Barn Theater, with a ribbon-cutting. Two are situated here, and two in Parking Plaza 3, right outside Lulu's Restaurant. 

No more hunting around for a charge outside our fair city. No more jaunts up to Los Altos Hills, which had their two charging stations long before these four stations.

"It's about time," quipped Los Altos Hills Town Council Member Rich Larsen, who was up for a little tongue-in-cheek ribbing. These stations will get far more use, he observed.

The assemblage learned some interesting data about EVs in Los Altos. In fact, many people, from City Clerk Jon Maginot to GreenTown Los Altos member Gary Hedden, came away quoting a surprise stat from Richard Lowenthal, founder of Chargepoint, which makes the charging stations (He's also a former mayor of Cupertino). Los Altos has about 1,900 electric vehicles; if Los Altos were a state it would rank sixth in EV ownership, Lowenthal said.

Patch gives a shout-out to Hedden, who contribute the photos of the ribbon-cutting, and the assemblage of dignitaries from Chargepoint, the makers of the charging station, and the team from Magnusson Toyota who showed off a several EVs.