View looking northeast. Grape St is just behind the chargers, and its intersection with Pacific Highway is behind the trees on the right edge of the photo. Harbor Drive and the waterfront are to the left of the camera.
Thomas Bros map: page 1288 grid J2
GPS: 32 43.460N 117 10.331W 7m (post-SA)
Site description: The San Diego County Administration Building is on Pacific Coast Highway between the airport and downtown, just east of San Diego Bay. The parking lot with the chargers is along the south side of Grape St, between N Harbor Drive on the west and Pacific Coast Highway on the east. Grape St is one-way eastbound, so you can't turn onto it from PCH. Go past it and make a right turn into the lot entrance from PCH. From northbound PCH you can first make a U-turn at Hawthorne.
Charger description: Three pedestal chargers under a 5kW "solar charge port" at the northern edge of the parking lot along Grape St.
Note: opened for use 29 Sept 1998
Hours: Barriers at the lot entrances are apparently put up on the weekends. However, they're not locked in place. And the "Severe Tire Damage" exit to Pacific Highway has no teeth left, so you can get in that way.
San Diego Trolley: County Admin/Little Italy stop on the Blue Line, to the east of the main building.
Charger supply voltage: 240
This note from EV1 driver Fred Beer:
If you leave your EV1 during the day while charging at San Diego County Aminstration which has 3 excellently situated chargers, you may be ticketed by overzealous security guards. Susan Morgan (phone 619-531-5405) who is responosable for security there has told me to bring the ticket to her or her receptionist in room 4002, the main building, 4th floor and she will rid you of the ticket. There has been one security officer that apparently doesn't like the facility being there and will probably be reprimanded. It is county admin's policy to keep those chargers open to the public and any EV can be parked there during the day (all day if necessary) as long as the car is plugged in. I did mention the possibility of someone mischeiviously removing the paddle. She responded that she knows what an EV1 looks like and would take that into consideration.
Entry by: Phil Karn, 2 Mar 1999; updated 5 Sep 2000
Photo by Ted Walton; courtesy of SDG&E