Inside the visitor centre we found a small gaggle of locals sitting around gabbing. We had a fairly lengthy conversation with them about Tonasket and an eclectic collection of other topics. A very friendly crew in this town!
Nicely landscaped in the front, the centre also has a picnic area at the rear of the parking lot, with a grassed area, picnic tables and a gazebo available for the use of the tourists who should stop in - and we recommend that they do so!
Around to the side of the building, at the edge of the parking lot, as one might expect, is this single charging station. This station was supplied by
Plug In North Central Washington. It is a hal2 (high amperage level 2) 240 volt station capable of providing 70 to 80 amps of charge. Plug In North Central Washington is a charitable which accepts donations which go toward the purchase of charging stations which can then be hosted by locations such as the Tonasket Visitor Center.
All the charging stations on the network are free to use.
A PRIVATELY-FUNDED HIGH SPEED ELECTRIC VEHICLE CHARGING NETWORK IN RURAL WASHINGTON
As a wholly-owned non-profit subsidiary of the North Central Washington Economic Development District, Plug In North Central Washington (PINCW) has a mission to encourage adoption of plug in vehicles throughout the region. We do this through a combination of outreach, education, projects and programs.
One of our most recent programs revolves around PINCW acting as an entity to accept charitable donations towards the purchase of high amperage Level 2 (haL2) electric vehicle charging stations, providing planning support to help get them installed in strategically chosen locations in North Central Washington, and then providing the stations free of charge as a 3-year "lease" to businesses or organizations that would like to act as the caretakers of these stations for a set period of time.
Each haL2 station has an approximate retail value of $2,200. At the end of the lease period, the businesses/organization who contract with PINCW have the option of purchasing them or asking PINCW to remove them. As an all volunteer organization with limited resources, PINCW has no ability to assume liability for the charging stations during the term of the lease. Those responsibilities lay with the host businesses and/or organizations that choose to install them.
Essentially the haL2 program, through charitable donations, is providing a charging station free of charge to an organization that would otherwise have to spend $2,200 of its own money to obtain them. We are also providing expert technical resources regarding charging station equipment and installation. Everything else regarding the station will be up to the host organization as if they were to have purchased the station themselves. This includes installation, liability insurance, maintenance and other incidentals (see contract for details). At the end of the host contract (a "lease period," if you will) the host will be able to purchase the station for $500 (roughly a 75% discount on the original purchase) if they so desire. This essentially acts as a grant of $1,500 towards the purchase of a charging station.
From Plug In North Central Washington