Mammoth Lakes resident Cheryl Witherill had more than just a passing curiosity about electric vehicles when she attended a joint High Sierra Energy Foundation and Eastern Sierra Electric Vehicle Association ride-and-drive event in early 2018. She just did not know if an EV was a practical choice for someone who lives in a high-altitude mountain community known for its cold and snowy winters.

That event allowed her to test a number of mountain-friendly EVs and get a feel for how they drove as well as the opportunity to talk with EV owners. It was the catalyst for her purchase of a Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV and, just as important, it allowed her to form connections with members of the sponsor organizations.

Those connections paid off for residents of the 1849 Condos and rental guests of 1849 Mountain Rentals, where Witherill is the general manager. The homeowners association recently installed five Level 2 charging stations with the help of Southern California Edison’s Charge Ready program.

“After learning that SCE’s program installs and covers installation costs for charging infrastructure at locations where people park for long periods, I knew this would bring a huge added value to the association with the growth of EVs in California,” said Witherill, who then took the information back to her board of directors for approval. She noted, “snow levels, snow removal, cold temperatures and ultraviolet exposure were all concerns when discussing the feasibility of this project.”

Since the Eastern Sierra community is only about 300 miles from Los Angeles and a popular summer and winter vacation destination, more and more EVs are appearing on local roads year-round.

“The adoption of EVs in the condo complex has increased from just a few residents to more than a dozen in a short amount of time,” said Witherill. “This started creating challenges for the complex as residents and rental guests were running extension cords out their windows or plugging into common areas to charge.”

The Level 2 charging stations installed at the 1849 Condos can be used with most EVs and are the first of their kind in the Mammoth Lakes area. While there are four other charging station locations in town, they are only compatible with one type of EV.

In addition to wanting to make sure as many residents and rental guests could take advantage of the chargers as possible, the association needed to ensure it selected a vendor that would support the rural community and offer a warranty-backed, weather-ready charging station. They also wanted to make sure they could own and operate the chargers so they would eventually pay for themselves through charging fees.

The chargers’ location was the final consideration, as parking is a premium commodity at the complex since it is right across from Mammoth Mountain Canyon Lodge, lifts and the Village Gondola. The association eventually found a space for the chargers that did not take away from the number of existing parking spaces.

“I’m glad we were able to work with the 1849 complex to help them navigate the challenges that come with being located in a mountain community,” said Simon Horton, SCE senior project manager. “One of our goals with Charge Ready is to help California meet its carbon-neutrality goals. Achieving carbon neutrality is critical to protecting mountain environments, like Mammoth Lakes, that are particularly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change.”

Greening of the transportation sector plays a big role in meeting that goal as it accounts for nearly 80% of the state’s air pollution and more than 40% of all greenhouse gas emissions.