Electric Cars and Coronado: Could Car2Go Come to the Community?

The EV Project has one simple goal: To fashion infrastructure for the burgeoning electric car industry.  

“There are already 1,600-plus electric cars in San Diego, the highest in the country,” said David Gatcha, of ECOtality (NASDAQ: ECTY), a Bay Area company and project partner that has received more than $100 million in federal funds to pursue the goal. 

Gatcha and representatives of other electric car advocates – Car2Go – the rental service behind the little blue-and-white smart cars seen zipping all over central San Diego – and San Diego Gas & Electric – held an informational forum at Tuesday. 

Car2Go, which wants to expand into Coronado, brought a few of its smart cars and gave people a chance to get behind the wheel, but not to take one out for a spin. Some 30 people attended.

Coronado firefighter Jamie Edmonds was on hand. He is an advocate for the electric car in general. Edmonds bought a Nissan Leaf in December.

“It’s a perfect fit for Coronado,” he said. 

Because they are so small, “you can get two cars in one space,” Edmonds explained. “It is the answer to Coronado’s parking problem.”

Edmunds says it costs him $1.50 to recharge his car. “I do it between midnight and 5 a.m. when the rates are the lowest,” he said.

On the other hand, electric cars are not cheap. Motor Trend magazine says that a LEAF costs up to $37,000 and a Chevy Volt some $39,000. Those who lack that kind of cash can embrace rental services such as Cars2Go, or other car-sharing plans, to be green and save. 

Car2Go allows users, for example, to take a smart car to Petco Park and leave it on the street for someone else to use; when the game's over, the motorist, using a smartphone app, can locate another car and drive it back to Coronado, again leaving it for someone else to drive.

The cost is 35 cents per minute; the company's service area is basically central San Diego. For now, Coronado is outside the service area.  

Car2Go came to San Diego in November of 2011. Its popularity has grown exponentially. “We have 300 cars. When we first started a car would sit for hours, now there is often a rush of two more heading for the same car,” Car2Go's Michael Cully said. 

The company is interested in Coronado. It’s a natural move from its Gaslamp-Hillcrest hub, but before that can happen there have to be enough fueling stations to recharge the cars left here.

Right now only City Hall has one, but before summer is over, the community will have at least two more, one at and the other at Loews.

Talks are underway with other hotels as well, Gatcha said.

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