Electric vehicle demonstration held in Santa Maria showcases zero-emission trucks and buses

SANTA MARIA, Calif. - A demonstration held Thursday in Santa Maria showcased the newest generation of heavy-duty zero-emission vehicles.

Over the course of three-and-a-half hours, the event featured an expert panel that will discuss several electric vehicle (EV) related topics and issues, as well as infrastructure planning resources, available funding programs, and innovative off-site charging hubs.

"The invitation went out to both public and private fleet operators," said Jeff Palmer, Renewable Properties EV Business Development Director, who help organized the event. "We have lots of municipalities. We have counties. We have cities. We have school districts and transit agencies, etc. We also have the private sector that does delivery service and transportation purposes, so it's a fleet industry event with the folks that are in charge of overseeing the vehicles."

According to organizers, those in attendance were able to learn industry insights and best practices with local public and private fleets that are operating EVs on the Central Coast.

"The purpose of having the event and having fleet operators and managers come out was to share as well as make sure everyone's up to date on the current resources that are available from the state, regional and local level for infrastructure and electric vehicles," said Palmer. "As well as to learn a little bit more about the configuration of this site that will be online early to 2026."

Palmer referenced the site of where the second half of the demonstration took place.

After starting at the Santa Maria Regional Transit (SMRT) headquarters on Fairway Drive, attendees rode an electric SMRT buses to an empty parking lot just down the street to the corner of Fairway and Skyway Drive, which will soon become the site of a new state-of-the-art electric fleet charging hub

"When this this site is fully built out, it'll be three megawatts of charging capacity comprised of level two AC charging for overnight vehicles as well as level three overnight and DC fast charging here in the daytime," said Palmer. "It's intended for commercial vehicles that are medium and heavy duty, including, electric busses."

Construction on the new charging hub will soon begin with completion expected by early 2026.

There were several EVs on display, such as delivery, service and transportation buses, vans, trucks from SMRT, FedEx, PG&E and Santa Barbara County Parks.

"This is a great opportunity to talk to people and collaborate and get all the feedback from everybody and tell them what we have done in infrastructure and what not to do," said David Giesmann, City of Santa Maria Fleet Supervisor. "We're trying to give people a little direction, how to go about it, how to start, how get your feet wet when getting started and getting the infrastructure in. Anybody can buy a vehicle right now, but the infrastructure is the time consuming part."

The demonstration was hosted in collaboration with Renewable Properties, SMRT, CalFleet Advisor, Santa Barbara County Air Pollution Control District (APCD), the Central Coast Clean Cities Coalition, and Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E).