Plug into more info about proposed EV-charging lot @ Morgan Community Association’s quarterly meeting Wednesday

One month after we first reported on Seattle City Light‘s plan to turn a former substation site into a lot for charging electric vehicles, you have a chance to find out more. The proposal for 4118 SW Morgan is on the agenda for Wednesday night’s quarterly meeting of the Morgan Community Association – two days before the city closes a survey on the proposal. For the rest of the 7 pm online meeting’s agenda, plus attendance info, see the listing on the WSB West Seattle Event Calendar.

32 Replies to "Plug into more info about proposed EV-charging lot @ Morgan Community Association's quarterly meeting Wednesday"

  • James April 19, 2022 (6:26 am)

    Things like this just promote car culture

    • The King April 19, 2022 (11:16 am)

      Great. Maybe the manufacturers of those autonomous cars can use them. The ones I said were coming a few years ago and I got blasted here for even bringing up technology nobody had even heard of. Zoox, coming to a charging lot near you. Lol 

    • Kevin on Delridge April 19, 2022 (1:57 pm)

      If you are truly an advocate for changing our car culture, I hope you can tell the difference between this and things that actually promote car culture.

      • KM April 19, 2022 (5:02 pm)

        Like parking lots in dense-ish, walkable neighborhoods with rapid transit?

        • Kevin on Delridge April 19, 2022 (10:08 pm)

          I guess we should get rid of the gas stations too maybe?My preference would be street side charging as found in Europe, but alas. 

          Stay disingenuous.

    • Jethro Marx April 19, 2022 (5:03 pm)

      When I think of car culture, it’s classic cars, lowriders that bounce, and bad@#$ dune buggies built to not bounce. But it sounds like you are thinking of something else. What is car culture, to you?  It is rare to find one opposed to even electric cars.

      • Don Brubeck April 19, 2022 (7:33 pm)

        Jethro Marx, when I think of car culture, I think of traffic reports every ten minutes on the radio with the reports only about car traffic and never about bus or train. I think of the words “park” and “parking” and how we now assume they are talking about parking cars instead of an alpine meadow or an urban green space or a place to park buses or bikes. I think of cities, towns and rural areas with fully connected road networks designed for travel by private cars, but disconnected and inefficient networks for travel by public transit, trains, biking, walking.  I think of a culture that has made travel by car the norm, and anything else an “alternative”.  I think of a culture that accepts tens of thousands of deaths and hundreds of thousands of serious injuries every year due to auto crashes.  And I’m part of it. I own and drive a car and a van. I love lowriders, too.

  • Roxhill C line Rider April 19, 2022 (8:26 am)

    Great idea!

  • SadAboutBridge April 19, 2022 (9:03 am)

    Never understood this. All EV’s have a range we’ll over 50-100 miles when fully charged. Someone driving from as far away as North Bend (for ranges on the low end) can make it here and back one one charge. Why are wasting valuable space that will sit idle 99.9% of the time when it could be used for other purposes? Housing, retail, restaurant, apts? NO ONE will use this. Please, which EV drivers will need this? They’ll charge on their own. 

    • Ron Swanson April 19, 2022 (10:37 am)

      What does North Bend have to do with anything? There’s plenty of people in West Seattle with housing situations that don’t allow charging at home, they need to charge somewhere.  Public fast charging stations are the solution.

    • Mike April 19, 2022 (10:57 am)

      My family would love to use this. We don’t have access to charging infrastructure because we live in a condo nearby. This would make it easier for us to get an electric car. Also, your comment sort of ignores a growing community of renters in West Seattle, who cannot afford a driveway to charge in. 

    • Austin V April 19, 2022 (1:34 pm)

      Have you ever driven past the charger located near West Seattle Bowl? It is in use very frequently, many times I have been unable to use it because there are only 2 chargers at that location. This infrastructure is needed now as EV sales are growing as quickly as manufacturers can produce them. Not everyone has access to home charging, myself included.

    • WS Res April 19, 2022 (6:01 pm)

      I love that you asked this as if the answer were self-evident, that this is unneeded, and you got so many answers showing you exactly why it is needed.

    • zark00 April 20, 2022 (3:01 pm)

      You’re almost there – so close. Range is limited on EVs. People who have EVs as their only vehicle use public transit. This is the same as park and ride, it promotes public transit usage and in that capacity is extremely effective. New electric vehicles have ranges in the 200-300s. Even those cars are more often parked to charge while the owner takes a bus or train than they are used daily to commute. This is a regular, daily, occurrence in places like San Fran with decent public transit options. If you really want to see single occupancy vehicles replaced with public transit you should embrace EV infrastructure, it’s a step toward your ultimate goal. 

      • Amy April 20, 2022 (9:06 pm)

        Actually Zarkoo, I own an EV with a 200+ mile range.  It’s an amazing road trip car!  I do NOT use transit, as the nearest bus stop to my house is over a mile and a half away and there is very little available parking at those bus stops.  Also, I work at home and so do not commute.  I know that there are plenty of people who would like to own an EV, but cannot, since they live in a building where they cannot charge.  This charging lot will make it possible for them to own an EV.  I do not understand the hostility to a car that does not burn gas, it’s another strategy for going green for those who cannot bike or use transit.

  • Michael April 19, 2022 (10:53 am)

    They are for somebody who lives in an apartment building or house renters who do not have home charging. A standard 120V 15A outlet is slow for charging only giving you 4 miles of range in a hour, for practical home charging you need at least a 240V 40A circuit. You can get away with a normal outlet but it needs more planning.  Also only the luxury apartment buildings offer charging and that is if you pay for an EV spot which can go from $125 to $200 a month.

  • RLV April 19, 2022 (10:58 am)

    Not everyone can have a charger where they live. They may not have a dedicated driveway or garage space, or they may rent and not be able to add a way to charge. This could enable more people to consider buying electric vehicles.

  • M. Thomass April 19, 2022 (11:50 am)

    A wonderful idea. We live in a Condo and have to drive 20 to 25 miles one way to charge the vehicle. Waste of Energy and time. Having a charging station near by in WEST SEATTLE will help a lot . it will also help people to make car bring decisions in favor of  electric vehicles at this time when the gas prices are near $5 a gallon and environmental issues are becoming more important. 

    • WSB April 19, 2022 (12:39 pm)

      Just to be sure you know, the city has a charging station in The Junction, by the south side of West Seattle Bowl on 39th SW. Two chargers.

    • Erin98126 April 19, 2022 (3:59 pm)

      The Walgreens at 35th and Morgan has charging stations that I never see used. Why would you drive 25 miles to charge your car? Charging stations aren’t THAT sparse…

      • Ron Swanson April 20, 2022 (10:37 am)

        Not all charging stations are created equal.  The type of level 2 charger at Walgreens can take 8-10 hours to charge an EV – it can only deliver 6kw.

        DC fast chargers like being proposed here can deliver anywhere from 50kw to 350kw and give you a significant charge in 30-40mins.

  • blaughw April 19, 2022 (12:34 pm)

    I do own a brand new Leaf and live in the Junction, no home charging. I leverage the SCL charger in front of the bowling alley fairly often (and it is incredibly cheap for being Paid charging).I fully support this new lot in Morgan, and I would be inclined to frequent businesses in Morgan Junction with this service available.

  • Mando#2 April 19, 2022 (3:28 pm)

    I am considering a Silverado EV.  I will probably have an option to charge from home in my case, however it would be nice to have options.  EV sales will likely spike especially considering gas prices.  There will be many EV’s in WA, next step to the future.  We need to have the the infrastructure in place.  As for car culture, at least half of us need or just want to drive a car.  Carpooling is great and the bus or a bike doesn’t work for me.  

  • aa April 19, 2022 (5:31 pm)

    I am missing a piece of the puzzle, what will people do after they park and plug in?  I imagine it needs to charge for awhile.   Wth all the reports of car breakins and stolen, will people be willing to leave their cars and bus to work? Or?

    • blaughw April 20, 2022 (12:32 pm)

      SCL is installing 50 kW charging infrastructure (so far), which will charge pretty much anything out there in under two hours. I see this as plenty of time to get a meal or run errands. I can’t speak to break ins and thefts. I’ve lived here over a decade, sometimes street parking and sometimes garage parking. I would think Morgan Junction stays busy enough to discourage crime.  I don’t think anyone is going to park their EV here for the day and take transit somewhere else, though maybe for sporting events?

  • KM April 19, 2022 (7:06 pm)

    Convert existing city-owned street parking or have existing private parking lot owners work out an arrangement. We should not be building any more parking lots, especially not on city-owned land. Electrifying is a small piece of the puzzle for our carbon woes. I don’t support preserving streets for parking, but picking my battles as our obsession with cars won’t end in our lifetimes (but will likely shorten them!) 

  • Millie April 19, 2022 (9:51 pm)

     Perhaps,  a redundant question,  so if I understand some of the comments above – no city property should be used for parking lots, is not an EV charging lot a parking lot until the vehicle is fully charged??  So we should not be converting a former, unused sub-station for a EV charging/parking lot!   I’m starting to feel we should return to “horse and buggies”.   At least,  car owners will not always be “bad”.  Thanks!

  • Susan April 20, 2022 (8:38 am)

    I drive an electric car (2019 Chevy Bolt) and live in West Seattle.  This area needs more  public charging stations.  For now, I’m entirely dependent upon public chargers like these and so is anyone who lives in an apartment or doesn’t have a garage where they can install a charger.  The type of charger being proposed by the city is  super fast and I can charge my car fully in about an hour.    I currently charge at the public chargers near West Seattle Bowl and happily shop at the Junction stores while charging.  This is a lifesaver for me.   Electric cars are normal now, like streaming and podcasts.    The chargers operated by the City like these are reasonably priced as compared to those operated by some private companies (ChargePoint, EVgo, ElectrifyAmerica).   Please let the City help us move into the future!

  • Joe Z April 20, 2022 (9:49 am)

    Use the street parking that is adjacent to this site. We don’t need any more parking lots.

    • Ron Swanson April 20, 2022 (1:02 pm)

      The amount of wiring and equipment needed to support DC fast charging is not conducive to being installed on the street. 

      Take a look at a Tesla Supercharger or an Electrify America station sometime, you’ll spot one or more enormous transformers to support the power draw, in addition to the substantial size of the chargers themselves. A former substation site is just about perfect for this sort of application.

      • Jort April 21, 2022 (10:27 am)

        Not to mention that car drivers will constantly run into them and cause thousands of dollars of damage routinely and regularly, as they do all over the city all the time.

        • CAM April 21, 2022 (10:02 pm)

          Or park in front of them with nonelectric vehicles and make them inaccessible. 

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