Status 4 weeks after 50 EV charging stations announcement: not so good.

Electric Vehicle charging stations: Westchester County promotes them before activation. What the heck?

Westchester County Expands Free Ev Charging To Support Sustainability Goals

Published: 07 February 2025

Westchester County has installed 25 new electric vehicle (EV) charging stations at the County Center’s South Parking Lot, providing free charging for up to 50 electric vehicles at a time...

That web page above has a link to an 18 minute announcement event:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDxdWgPRGaw

It's the new county executive and five others in self congratulation acting like cats licking themselves, oblivious that the EV charging stations have not been activated. I left this comment:

Today I walked to these EV charging stations and after they have been there for months they still do not appear to be activated. Nor is there any signage on the road or nearby that would alert drivers about their existence. The concrete steps to exit the parking area are closed at the top. There were no cars there getting charged. NONE. I just sent my fourth email in 2025 to the new county executive asking about this and I have received only the auto reply. Do any of these people on the podium know any of this?

_________________

As of yesterday March 6 at noon:

- no signage on the road or nearby that would alert drivers

- concrete steps to exit the parking area still closed at the top

- two cars charging; two of a possible 50

I charged my EV there Saturday February 22, 2025 at mid day. Three other cars were charging. Many stations did not have full IDs. I had to walk along and try to view them using the app on my phone. Then move my car to one that might work. I got this message, which I sent to the company, Flo:

"Charging output restricted to 6 A due to power sharing between charging stations."

Flo replied:

... usually means that the charging station is sharing power between multiple vehicles. As a result, the output is limited to ensure that all connected vehicles receive a portion of the available power...

Thank you again for bringing this to our attention

____________________

https://www.westchestergov.com/meet-the-ce-staff

I counted 32 people on the staff of the County Executive. Maybe that's part of the problem.

This post will be sent to:

CE@westchestergov.com
Kenneth Jenkins, County Executive

PMcCartt@westchestercountyny.gov
Peter McCartt
Westchester County Electric Vehicles (EV)
Chairman of Climate Smart Communities Task Force:
1st Term Appointing Authority: Ex-Officio
Director of Environment and Sustainability

news12wc@news12.com

commoncouncil@whiteplainsny.gov

Westchester County budget for Electric Vehicle (EV) charging stations.

2025 Westchester County Capital Proposed Budget

Pages 243-244:

ELECTRIC VEHICLE CHARGING STATIONS AND INFRASTRUCTURE

Project Description
This project funds the installation of electric vehicle (EV) charging stations and associated infrastructure at various County and municipal locations. The County will work
with NYSERDA, NYPA and NYSDEC to explore any Non-County funding that may be available for this project.

Current Year Description

The current year request funds the continuation of this project.

Current Year Financing Plan
Year Bonds
2025 $5,000,000

Impact on Operating Budget
The impact on the Operating Budget is the debt service associated with the issuance of bonds.

Appropriation History

2020-2024 $45,000,000

More money figures are on those pages.

_____________________

Is it $45,000,000 or $87,000,000?

Videos of empty Westchester County EV charging stations, the ones celebrated prematurely.

The new county executive celebrated eight days ago: February 7, 2025:

Electric Vehicle charging stations: Westchester County promotes them before activation. What the heck? Friday, February 14, 2025

Two short videos taken this morning Saturday, February 15, 2025 about 10:30 AM. When the image appears, click it and it will expand and play my comments.

2 minutes, 18 seconds:

https://photos.app.goo.gl/FnxGBkk33JRpJhrb7

1 minute, 14 seconds: 

https://photos.app.goo.gl/SAuVGJxQ5Bxve4nP8

Electric Vehicle charging stations: Westchester County promotes them before activation. What the heck?

Westchester County Expands Free Ev Charging To Support Sustainability Goals

Published: 07 February 2025

Westchester County has installed 25 new electric vehicle (EV) charging stations at the County Center’s South Parking Lot, providing free charging for up to 50 electric vehicles at a time.

_________________

OK, you get the idea. You would obviously conclude that these Electric Vehicle charging stations have been activated, especially since they were installed months ago. But I look over there frequently and I have never seen a single car using them. Today, I went there on foot and used the app from the company Flo to try to make contact and that failed. I called Flo and was informed that it does not activate its Electric Vehicle charging stations but the organization hosting them (Westchester County) does it.

Westchester County did the same thing at the North White Plains train station surface parking lot, which is administered by the county (Who knew?). When I got my Electric Vehicle in February, 2024 I tried the eight Flo charging stations there and learned that they had not been activated. Months passed before they were.

What kind of management is that?

That web page above has a link to an 18 minute announcement event:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDxdWgPRGaw

It's the new county executive and five others in self congratulation acting like cats licking themselves, oblivious that the EV charging stations have not been activated. I left this comment:

Today I walked to these EV charging stations and after they have been there for months they still do not appear to be activated. Nor is there any signage on the road or nearby that would alert drivers about their existence. The concrete steps to exit the parking area are closed at the top. There were no cars there getting charged. NONE. I just sent my fourth email in 2025 to the new county executive asking about this and I have received only the auto reply. Do any of these people on the podium know any of this?

_____________________

Those blocked concrete steps lead to a pedestrian overpass of the Bronx River Parkway to the WP train station, further evidence that EV charging stations are not operational. How could they not know all of this?

The city of White Plains has been on the verge of updating its EV charging stations for a year but I don't see anything on the city website with current information.

One final point. I have an EV and I have always wanted clean air and clean water. But I'm realistic about the planet and some of the rhetoric is dated. If you want to do something, don't drive. Driving an EV doesn't really make much difference. I drive an EV because I hate gas stations. Pumping your own gas is one of the most revolting things that we do regularly.

If you have a private garage and you plan to get a new car, you have to be an idiot to buy another gas car. I'm in an apartment building with no EV charging stations, so I have to hunt for public ones. I have urged the city to require apartment buildings to have some but to no avail.

Videos of empty Westchester County EV charging stations, the ones celebrated prematurely. Saturday, February 15, 2025