FORT CARSON, Colo. — The Directorate of Public Works (DPW) activated five electric vehicle (EV) charging stations in early July available for use by installation units and organizations issued General Services Administration (GSA) government-owned EV fleet vehicles.
The ChargePoint stations, which can charge two vehicles simultaneously, are installed in the parking lot north of building 1225 near the intersection of Wetzel Avenue and Evans Street.
When down to 0% charge, the 25 Ford Lightning EV light-duty trucks recently allocated to Fort Carson require roughly two-and-a-half days to fully charge, explained Harnek “London” Sahota, fleet and equipment specialist for the DPW. Once charged, the trucks can average 237 miles of travel.
Units and organizations assigned a government-owned EV will have a credit card issued to their vehicles, which also comes with Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) card. The RFID card is used to charge the GSA EVs.
Individuals charging their government EV will tap the RFID card in front of the charge station, then insert the charging cable into vehicle’s EV port. An app is available to track vehicle’s charging time at https://www.chargepoint.com/drivers/mobile.
Once a unit or organization’s government EV is charged, it must be moved to allow access for others to charge their assigned EVs.
An additional 12 solar-powered Beam EV charging stations are slated for Fort Carson and will be operational in August. Two of the Beam chargers, which do not require connection to the electrical grid, are designated for the Fort Carson Transportation Moto Pool (building 749), one for Piñon Canyon Maneuver Site and the remaining nine will be installed by headquarters buildings.
The Army is currently researching avenues to provide EV charging stations for personally-owned vehicle use in the future.
Details on how to use the ChargePoint EV stations can be found at https://www.chargepoint.com/resources.
For information about GSA ChargePoint RFID EV credit cards, visit https://www.gsa.gov/system/files/Charge_Your_Electric_Vehicle_at_Public_Sites_April_2023_updated.pdf.
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