Efforts to get people into electrical vehicles are getting a boost in Ventura County. The county received a $12 million dollar federal grant to add electric vehicle chargers.
Government leaders gathered in Thousand Oaks Friday to celebrate the aid, which will fund 190 new EV chargers in the county. It includes 148 standard and 42 rapid chargers.
Thousand Oaks Mayor Al Adam says a big objective is to help make electric vehicles more practical for low income residents.
"We're going to get 16 chargers for underserved neighborhoods, and another eight for the Thousand Oaks Transportation Center, and those will be superchargers," said Adam. He said the superchargers can get a car up to 80% capacity in 20 minutes.
Oxnard City Councilman Bert Perello says the grant will fund more than two dozen new charging stations in Oxnard. "This is not just for the wealthier areas which have high end cars," said Perello. "It's for people who might be getting low end chargeable units."
Community leaders say having chargers easily accessible is key to expanding EV use in the county. The federal government recently allocated more than $600 million dollars nationally to improve IV infrastructure.
