Part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area, San Francisco’s Crissy Field is situated directly beneath the majestic Golden Gate Bridge. The urban park’s shoreline promenade, sand dunes, and long grassy field are ideal vantage points to gaze at clouds sweeping in from the Pacific, across Marin’s mountains, and past the landmark bridge. As of February 2012, the park has become a destination for EV drivers to recharge their cars while they enjoy the picnic sites, hiking and jogging trails, wind surfing, and wildlife viewing.
Powered in part by solar-generated electricity (with minimal contributions from three small vertical-axis wind turbines), and completely free to EV drivers, the Crissy Field charging station started with a spark of an idea from Adopt a Charger (AaC), a nonprofit created to provide free, accessible car charging in prominent locations. “If you look at a map of where EV charging has been placed, it wasn’t serving the most attractive and interesting places for EV drivers to go,” says Marc Geller, vice president of AaC.