Superintendent Cassius Cash joined representatives from East TN Clean Fuels Coalition, Land of Sky Clean Vehicles Coalition, US Dept of Energy’s Clean Cities program, Nissan USA, and GSMA on September 30th to unveil new alternative fuel equipment for GSMNP.
Along with new propane-powered mowers and neighborhood electric vehicles, the highlight of the ribbon cutting ceremony were two new DC fast-charging stations, one each at Oconaluftee Visitor Center in Cherokee, NC and Sugarlands Visitor Center in Gatlinburg, TN.
The Smokies are the first unit in the National Park Service to install and operate public DC fast-charging stations.
A Tesla Model S and Nissan Leaf demonstrated the fast-charging technology, which can reduce charging time down to 20 minutes for some models.
The work was funded by the joint Dept of Interior/Dept of Energy Clean Cities National Parks Initiative which is helping multiple national parks advance their goals towards reducing greenhouse gas emissions from park operations and maintenance vehicles and improving air quality overall in and around the parks.
See the charging stations in action and hear more about the project in this video from East Tennessee Clean Fuels Coalition: