Reston Association Approves Study of Electric Vehicles, Charging Stations

Reston Association (RA) is looking at potentially going a bit greener.

The RA Board of Directors unanimously approved a pair of motions brought to it during its Feb. 25 meeting by Director Tom Mulkerin that are focused on electric vehicles and subsequent charging stations.

The first motion directs RA staff to use the next 120 days to study the feasibility of replacing the association’s current fleet of fossil-fueled vehicles over the next 10 years. The staff is also directed to study the potential installation of a Level 3 charging station at the Central Services Facility to recharge its electric fleet.

RA staff is charged with addressing four primary questions with its study. The first portion of the stud will look at the comparative costs of acquisition, operation, maintenance and repair of electric vehicles versus the current fleet that uses fossil fuels.

The second part is an evaluation of the estimated financial and operational impact on the Central Service Facility and finding a conversion timeline for the fleet. It also includes diagnosing the skills and equipment required for the maintenance of both the electric vehicles and existing fleet.

The third item is finding the expected cost of the installation, operation, maintenance and repair of charging stations and a projected useful lifespan compared to the cost of fueling the existing fleet.

The board also directed staff to study the possibility of installing electric vehicle charging stations at one or more RA facilities over the next three months.

The scope of the second study includes reviewing the specific charging station types for recommendation, the expected volume of use, the anticipated costs to users of the stations and the general installation, operation, maintenance and repair costs of stations.

Staff will also examine if the stations would be compatible with RA sites.

Finally, the study would examine if the overall costs of the program would generate a meaningful profit and when that profit would materialize.

“I think we should look at the opportunity just to say, ‘Is it worthwhile?,'” Mulkerin said. “Then if it’s not, we can say to our membership, ‘We looked at it. It wasn’t worth it to do it,’ or agree.”