Gallery: LA’s Using Energy Savings From LED Streetlights to Charge Electric Vehicles
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After converting to LED streetlights, Los Angeles has excess power capacity, which it's using to charge up electric cars.
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The extra power was an unintended bonus of the LED switch. “It was totally gravy,” says LA Mayor Eric Garcetti.
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So far, the city has installed three of those stations, all of them downtown.
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The Level 2 chargers supply 240 volts and typically provide up to 20 miles of range for every hour you’re plugged in.
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The project falls under the city’s “Sustainable City pLAn,” which covers everything from cutting water use to bulking up mass transit to easing the cost of housing.
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LA requires that half of all new light duty city vehicles have a cord, a ratio that climbs to 80 percent in 2025.
