Public EV Chargers Get a Refresh

Electric vehicle chargers at Crissy Field are available for park visitors

Photo from National Park Service

At Golden Gate National Recreation Area (GGNRA) we continue to look for ways to provide electric vehicle chargers to our visitors. Since 2012, we have partnered with Adopt a Charger to install public chargers at Crissy Field, Muir Woods, Fort Mason, and Stinson Beach. In 2021, all of these chargers were upgraded and replaced thanks to a donation from EV manufacturer Rivian.

As of 2023, Rivian has installed a total of 20 chargers, including new sites at the Crissy Field Warming Hut, Battery East Parking, and Land's End Lookout.

The National Park Service has worked with our non-profit partner the Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy to accomplish these projects over the years. The Parks Conservancy collects fees from the chargers to allow them to be available into the future.

Background:

The initial project at Crissy Field, sponsored by the National Parks Conservation Association, was completed in 2012 when two Level 2 EV chargers were installed at Crissy Field's East Beach. These chargers have been upgraded twice since then, most recently with the donation from Rivian. Moreover, in 2013, Adopt a Charger secured a donation from Pacific Gas and Electric to install chargers at Muir Woods National Monument, now managed as part of the reservation system at this site.

In 2015, the Conservancy received a grant from the California Energy Commission to install chargers at two additional sites: Fort Mason and Stinson Beach. Matching funds from PG&E helped to supplement this grant and to sponsor the electricity supply for visitors. As the funds for sponsorship became depleted, Adopt a Charger continued to seek sponsors to provide fee-free charging for park visitors. In 2021, this search bore fruit when the partnership with Rivian was established. Recent efforts have focused on assessing additional locations to place public chargers, such as at Lands End, West Crissy Field, and various sites in the Marin Headlands.

Golden Gate NRA will continue to pursue options to encourage our visitors to use the park in the most sustainable way possible. As we learned when we last updated our Climate Change Action Plan, the heat-trapping gasses generated by visitors’ vehicles are the largest percentage of the park’s contribution to climate change. Promoting electric vehicle travel to and from national parks will not only reduce the emissions from our visitors, but help to meet the demand for emissions-free electrical supply as EV adoption increases overall and states like California develop ambitious targets for EV adoption.

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