Santa Barbara MTD installs 14 Level 2 electric vehicle chargers, transitions agency’s cars to all-electric Chevy Bolts

Fourteen new ChargePoint Level 2 electric vehicle chargers have been installed in Santa Barbara Metropolitan Transit District’s (MTD) Terminal 1 yard to provide infrastructure for a new fleet of all-electric light-duty vehicles consisting of 14, 2020 Chevy Bolts.

These vehicles are used in non-revenue service, mainly as relief vehicles, which bus operators use to move between shifts and buses throughout MTD’s service territory.

The new fleet of Chevy Bolts replaces an existing fleet of aging gasoline-powered sedans and will immediately reduce MTD’s emissions on the light-duty side of operations.

To make the MTD facility ready to charge and maintain these new vehicles, Southern California Edison’s (SCE) Charge Ready Program covered the costs of electrical upgrades and other infrastructure work necessary to install the chargers. SCE also provides a partial rebate for each charger.

Additionally, the Santa Barbara County Air Pollution Control District (APCD) provided significant grant funds toward the charger costs from the Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure Program.

“We’re very happy to be in this partnership to expand the use of electric vehicles through our region to serve the needs of MTD,” said APCD’s Executive Director Aeron Arlin Genet.

“I’m really excited to announce our first Chevy Bolts that we’ve introduced to our fleet of relief vehicles and we’re thrilled with the partnership with the Air Pollution Control District to get this project done,” said MTD General Manager Jerry Estrada.