MARTINEZ, CA - The City of Martinez will become the fifth Bay Area city to install ChargePoint Networked Charging Stations for electric vehicles (EVs).

The three 120V stations, manufactured by Coulomb Technologies, are located in and around downtown Martinez, including one at City Hall; one at Main and Court streets; and one at the Amtrak Station.

The official unveiling is scheduled to take place during a ribbon cutting ceremony April 22 (Earth Day) at 11 a.m. Pacific at Martinez City Hall. City officials including Mayor Robert Schroder and representatives from Coulomb Technologies will be on hand for the ceremony, which will include a demonstration of the station in use with a Prius plug-in hybrid vehicle.

Installing the EV charging stations was important to the City of Martinez because it demonstrates support for cleaner transportation, according to a City statement. Non-highway vehicle emissions accounted for almost 50 percent of its overall greenhouse gas emissions in 2005. Affording the public convenient and accessible ways to utilize transportation options more friendly to the environment, such as charging stations for electric vehicles, is essential to the overall process of reducing the City's carbon footprint and supports the goals of the City of Martinez's adopted Climate Action Plan.

The Martinez charging stations will be available for use by consumers for their personal electric vehicles, as well as by City staff to charge the City's fleet of four electric vehicles used for local transportation in the downtown area. Martinez joins San Jose, San Francisco, Walnut Creek and Pleasant Hill as Bay Area cities that have networked charging stations installed. Other areas in Northern California include Campbell, Sonoma County and Chico.

Measure C funding for the three EV charging stations was provided by 511 Contra Costa (the transportation demand management agency for local jurisdictions and the county) and approved by TRANSPAC. The Measure C funds are ½ cent sales tax for transportation improvement projects and are collected through the Contra Costa Transportation Authority and used to deliver local projects and programs. TRANSPAC is made up of elected officials and staff from each central Contra Costa County City (Pleasant Hill, Walnut Creek, Concord, Clayton, Martinez, and unincorporated portions of the county).

The network of electric vehicle charging stations is accessible to all plug-in drivers by making a toll-free call to the 24/7 number on each charging station, or signing up for a ChargePoint Network monthly access plan and obtaining a ChargePass smart card. Other future payment options include using any smart (RFID) credit/debit card to authorize a session or using a standard credit or debit card at a remote payment station (RPS) to pay for charging sessions. To locate available charging stations, visit mychargepoint.net and click "Find Stations."