HISTORY:
On April 19, 2017, the Sustainability and Resiliency Committee made a motion referring a discussion to the City Commission, with a favorable recommendation, regarding the installation of Tesla electric vehicle charging stations at the Pennsylvania Avenue parking garage or other underutilized city garages.
At the Sustainability Committee on April 25, 2017, Mr. Chris Vance, Regional Project Manager – Supercharger Southeastern US/Tesla, provided information on the benefits of Tesla’s SuperChargers electric vehicle charging stations. Mr. Vance briefly mentioned that the company had worked with other cities to install SuperChargers at their own expense . However, during that presentation, he did not delve into details of the agreements Tesla currently has with other municipalities. The Sustainability Committee passed a motion supporting the City’s efforts to begin discussions with Tesla for the installation of electric vehicle charging stations in city garages.
To this end, on May 19, 2017, City Staff held a conference call with Mr. Chris Vance, Regional Project Manager – Supercharger Southeastern US/Tesla.
• Tesla stated a one (1) year pilot was not cost effective and it was seeking a minimum five (5) year term. Tesla cited its capital investment for the infrastructure and SuperCharger stations was estimated $500K+ and $240K+ on annual utility expenses requiring a longer term for their investment.
• Tesla stated it did not provide a financial return in other comparable venues. Moreover, Tesla asserted its SuperCharger stations would generate additional parking revenues in the form of short term parking sessions while users would patronize businesses for quick transactions (30 minutes or less).
On July 26, 2017, the Mayor and Commission referred the discussion to the Finance and Citywide Projects Committee (FCWPC), approved by acclamation. On July 28, 2017, the FCWPC discussed the item and approved a recommendation to: (1) proceed with a five (5) year term with a provision for “termination for cause” in lieu of “termination for convenience” and (2) Tesla to provide a public benefit which may be in the form of technology supporting a variety of the City’s resiliency programs. On August 3, 2017, City staff met with Mr. Vance to pursue the direction given by the FCWPC. If successful, the Administration would have placed companion items on this agenda seeking approval of: (1) a Resolution accepting the recommendation of the FCWPC and (2) the Concession Agreement with Tesla.
Upon further discussion with Mr. Vance, regrettably, there are additional terms Tesla is seeking, these are:
• Two (2) additional five (5) year extension options, beyond the initial five (5) year term for a total of up to 15 years, at the sole and absolute discretion of Tesla.
• In regards to a public benefit, Tesla proposes to include potential future profit sharing language in the concession agreement. Tesla states this is not something they typically include in their agreements and further advised that as of today, Tesla does not profit from SuperCharger stations. However, if this were to change in the future, there would be a provision to address it.
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