Proponents of electric vehicles say an increase in the number of charging stations in the Sacramento Region will mean more electric vehicles on the road.
Richard Lowenthal is founder of the charging station company, Charge Point. He says there is a direct correlation between the installation of charging stations and sales of electric vehicles.
"What we see consistently is when people do that -when a city or a business does that- then the cars come. So, this is an important part of the chicken and the egg problem of giving confidence to electric vehicle buyers when they're on the showroom floor that if they buy this car, they'll be able to fuel it."
-Richard Lowenthal
Industry experts estimate about 1200 private charging stations exist in the Sacramento region.
Mayor Christober Cabaldon says the number of charging stations has doubled in the past year, which will help the region meet clean air standards.
"We want to clean up the air for two reasons: one, because we breathe it, and second, because we have to improve our air quality to meet Federal Clean Air Act standards, and if we don't do that, we lose the transportation funding that pays for roads and bridges and buses and bike lanes and everything else."
-West Sacramento Mayor Christopher Cabaldon
West Sacramento paid about $7,000 for the City Hall station, but will not charge people to use it.
Next month, the Sacramento Area Council of Governments is scheduled to adopt its electric vehicle regional readiness plan.
Governor Jerry Brown has called for 1.5 million zero-emission vehicles to be operating in the state by 2025.
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