In 2021, the City partnered with local clean-tech developer Beam Global to launch a pilot program using San Diego’s most plentiful natural resource, solar power, to charge the City’s electric vehicle (EV) fleet. 

The Electric Vehicle Autonomous Renewable Charger (EV ARC) pilot program demonstrates the City’s commitment to accelerating the adoption of EVs as part of the City’s fleet, supporting San Diego’s Climate Action Plan (CAP) goal of increasing the share of zero-emissions vehicles in the municipal fleet to 90% by 2035. The program also helps the City meet clean-energy requirements established by the California Air Resources Board.

San Diego’s EV ARCs are designed to fit inside a 9x8 parking space and vehicles can park on top of the ballast pad so no parking area is wasted. Each EV ARC can fuel up to five vehicles at a time.

For one year the City evaluated performance measures for EV ARCs at two municipal locations:

• Three vehicles at 20th & B Operations Yard.
• Two vehicles at Chollas Operations Yard.

Based on the success of the pilot, the City is in the process of determining locations for additional EV ARCs.