Chasing EV goals, locals mark wins and headwinds
As the state urges wider electric vehicle adoption, Acton groups are weighing their own projects.
Minute Man Arc CEO Jean Goldsberry said she felt sick thinking about the greenhouse gases her organization was releasing into the air.
“It gives me a stomachache,” she said.
A first-of-its-kind partnership aims to shrink that carbon footprint.
The leaders of Minute Man, a non-profit that supports people with disabilities, are excited about their recent swing toward an electric van fleet. As the state urges wider electric vehicle adoption, other Acton groups are weighing their own projects.
With 12 chargers and 15 electric vans, Minute Man is “blazing a leadership path,” state Sen. Michael Barrett (D-Lexington) said.
Despite local support, proponents are facing some headwinds — and even some climate-conscious Concordians have mixed feelings.
Town officials have moved to electrify the municipal fleet in recent years.
Among recent leaps:
- The Acton Free Public Library swapped out an aging gas-powered van.
- CMLP bought three new electric vehicles.
- Acton schools won money to upgrade bus charging stations, and leaders were in “pretty active discussions” earlier this month about possibly buying five new electric buses, Superintendent Laurie Hunter told the School Committee.
A state program could give the Acton Housing Authority two free charging stations, according to Executive Director Jennifer Polito. But there’s already a waiting list for parking, Polito told The Acton Bridge, and residents are worried about losing regular spaces.
Acton Municipal Light Plant Director Jason Bulger said chargers use “a lot of electricity.” This can strain utility infrastructure.
Even if an area has demand, Bulger said, crews must ensure their equipment can support a charger. Making upgrades in a way that’s fair for all ratepayers, “can be very complicated,” Bulger said.
Mixed opinions
The EV switch goes beyond municipal cars.
Concordians owned 378 battery-powered electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids at the beginning of 2020, state data shows.
The town’s 2022 Sustainable Acton report set a goal of having 8,000 EVs here by the end of the decade. Through January 1, 2026, the count had climbed to 1,778, according to the state.
Overall vehicle ownership in town has increased only slightly, from 14,394 to 14,635.
Geoff Tritsch once worked as a CMLP “heat pump coach” and calls EVs “absolutely the perfect commuting vehicle.”
But Tritsch has his own “range anxiety” about the distance most models can travel between charges, and he’s wary of having a fully electric car as his only option.
‘Easy to find’
Select Board member Wendy Rovelli and her husband have an EV, and Rovelli acknowledged “you definitely don’t get the same mileage” in winter.
It’s “easy to find” chargers, though, because their locations are posted online, she said.
Yet, “not all charging spots are the same,” said Climate Action Committee Clerk Brad Hubbard-Nelson. More high-speed chargers, he said, could make people more comfortable.
Acton has just over a dozen charging locations listed on the crowdsourced PlugShare app. CMLP operates 11 sites. Just one — at Rideout Park — offers Level 3 high-speed plugs.
Acton Greene installed an EV charger for its residents in 2020 that accommodates two cars. When crews repaved the neighborhood’s roads, condo leadership added conduit in case they wanted to install more stations.
David Hesel, the president of the homeowners association, says the complex has roughly 20 EVs or plug-in hybrids. “Our usage is good,” he told The Bridge, but it’s not enough to require another station.
Minute Man Arc started its electrification push in 2018.
“It ran into some walls from time to time,” retired Director of Operations Eric Boroush said, but officials were ready to celebrate in December as they converted one-third of their 45-van fleet.
Minute Man drives more than 600,000 miles per year, according to Goldsberry.
The non-profit partnered with Insight Distributed Energy and is leasing its vans from the firm. CEO Brian Kesselman worked with CMLP to plan the charger installation and helped rally funding.
The town has information on EV rebates and other programs for drivers who want to make the switch from a gas car at ConcordDrivesElectric.org.
Trace Salzbrenner contributed reporting.
