Kitty Adams Hoksbergen’s Adopt a Charger provides free or low-cost charging infrastructure at remote destinations, inspiring consumers to go all-electric, all of the time.
Growing up outside Detroit in the 1970s, Kitty Adams Hoksbergen got her first look at state and national parks from the wheel well of her parents’ 1966 Pontiac Safari station wagon. Her parents, both employees of the Detroit public school system, used their summers off to take the family––Adams Hoksbergen is the youngest of eight kids––on extended road trips. Pulling a pop-up trailer for overnight sleeping, they spent many weeks exploring the history, campgrounds, and natural wonders of the western United States.
“We would stop at nearly every historical marker along the way,” Adams Hoksbergen recalls, which invariably included a hike to a scenic overlook or other natural attraction. “Every day was a new adventure.”
These family road trips also imbued her with a deep, abiding love of nature: its mountains, lakes, rivers and forests.
Preserving Nature, Promoting EVs.
Today, as the executive director of Adopt a Charger, a nonprofit, Adams Hoksbergen is working to preserve nature and enable others to enjoy it by accelerating the adoption of electric vehicles (EVs). The key, she believes, is to expand access to reliable and inexpensive charging infrastructure.
Her strategy is simple: use grants or corporate sponsorships to install free or low-cost EV charging infrastructure in popular destinations such as national or state parks 40 or so miles away; use Level 2 chargers to provide adequate range for the return trip in the two or three hours people typically spend at these destinations; and ensure the reliability of the charging infrastructure through long-term maintenance agreements with local vendors.
By addressing EV range anxiety with reliable charging infrastructure, Adams Hoksbergen hopes to encourage folks to give up their climate-degrading, internal combustion engine vehicles altogether.
“The best salespeople for EVs are the actual owners themselves,” she suggests. “When I put in charging stations at popular destinations, and someone who’s curious about EVs can engage EV owners in conversation, I'm winning. That’s how cars (EVs) get sold.”
Following Her Instincts
As long as she can remember, Adams Hoksbergen has identified as a “tree hugger.” That’s why she chose Michigan State University, a campus known for its diverse collection of trees, classic architecture and botanical gardens, for college.
“MSU was so green and beautiful,” she remembers. “It was a pleasure to walk around campus.”
At MSU, Adams Hoksbergen studied human environment and design (HED), which examines how the design of spaces and products in the built environment can affect the physical and psychological well-being of humans.
“I wanted to become a buyer for a clothing store operated by my sister,” Adams Hoksbergen says. “My HED classes taught me a lot about textiles and the apparel industry, but also about what makes people tick, and what types of incentives spur them to act. The training has been quite relevant and helpful to my efforts to spur EV sales.”
After graduating MSU in 1988, Adams Hoksbergen moved to Southern California, found work with the clothing company Eileen Fisher, and married her college boyfriend.
Putting Motherhood First
When Adams Hoksbergen gave birth to twin girls in 1998, however, her priorities shifted.
“I really liked my job,” she explains, “but when I had my twins, I realized I had to surrender to motherhood,” she explains. “I wanted to show up for my kids, and to do that, I had to take a step back.”
So, for the next five years, she stayed home with her daughters or worked jobs such as teaching nursery school where she could be with them.
Discovering EVs
This stay-at-home period also converted Adams Hoksbergen into the EV advocate she is today. She recalls watching an interview with Alexandra Paul in which the activist and former Baywatch TV star recounted owning a red VW Rabbit converted to run exclusively on batteries.
“I thought it would be cool to have an EV,” Adams Hoksbergen says. “When I later met someone who owned a GM EV-1 (the first mass-produced EV), I knew it was a possibility. So, I put down a deposit, sight unseen, on a 2002 Toyota Rav4 EV and received it about six months later.”
Considering New Options
When Adams Hoksbergen rejoined the workforce, she worked part-time for her husband’s software development company. But when the marriage broke up in 2009, she had to find new ways to support her family.
“I didn’t see a business case for a middleman between the utility (providing the electricity) and the EV driver,” Adams Hoksbergen clarifies. “Most EV charging was happening at home or the workplace, leaving only 10 percent for public charging sites. I couldn’t see how you could make a profit selling electricity without making it more expensive than gas.”
Stumbling Upon the Mission
In 2010, Adams Hoksbergen took a part-time job editing Plug In America's Electric Vehicle Guide. During her tenure, someone called the company to ask how one could make money on EV charging stations.
“And then it struck me,” Adams Hoksbergen remembers thinking. “It’s not about making money, it’s about transitioning people (away from ICE cars to EVs). How do we get at least 1.5 million EVs on the road in California by 2025?" (mirroring then-Governor Jerry Brown’s goal.)
Her solution? Create a nonprofit committed to expanding the adoption of EVs. In March 2011, Adopt a Charger was born.
“Launching Adopt a Charger addressed my two most important goals in life,” Adams Hoksbergen emphasizes. “It allowed me to support a cause I believed in, namely protecting our state and national parks, and it gave me the flexibility––working in a home office on my own schedule––to be the best mom I could be.”
Gaining Momentum
Driven by this new clarity, Adams Hoksbergen and Adopt a Charger experienced early success in California. Her first project, sponsored by the National Park Conservation Association, was completed in 2012. It comprised two charging stations installed at Crissy Field in the Golden Gate National Recreation Area. In those early years, Adams Hoksbergen also secured grants from the California Energy Commission to install 60 chargers across 26 state parks including the Hearst Castle State Historic Park.
Adopt a Charger got a boost in 2021 from EV manufacturer Rivian who had seen Adams Hoksbergen interviewed in a Wall St. Journal video series about why the U.S. needs more charging stations at parks and vacation destinations. Rivian has helped fund the installation of more than 100 EV charging stations in parks in California, Oregon, Nevada and Michigan.
Adams Hoksbergen’s most reliable partner, however, has been the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP).
The utility has helped underwrite the installation of charging infrastructure at many popular LA cultural centers including the LA County Museum of Art, the Natural History Museum of LA County, the LA Zoo, the Getty Center and the Getty Villa.
Charging Ahead
To date, Adopt a Charger has installed more than 600 EV charging stations in 15 states. Adams Hoksbergen won’t rest, however, until she’s got Adopt a Charger locations in all 50 states.
“I prefer to work in areas where there is the greatest need such as emerging markets, rural remote areas or seasonal parks where there is no business case for EV charging,” she says. She modeled Adopt a Charger after Adopt-a-Highway programs in which community groups sponsor the periodic clean-up of sections of highways in their city.
In recent years, Adams Hoksbergen has created momentum for her 50-state strategy
by reaching out to the charitable-giving arms of major utility providers in the Midwest and Southeastern U.S.
“I’ve secured several grants from Entergy, an amazing investor-owned utility with properties in Arkansas, Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas. They were quite pleased with my results,” she claims.
“Funding from Consumers Energy allowed me to install charging stations in many Michigan state parks, while Cleco has enabled community charging in Louisiana.”
Making it Work
Matching potential sponsors to desired charging locations involves creativity, perseverance and a bit of luck, Adams Hoksbergen advises. “No one size fits all."
Notionally, she tries to secure sponsorships to fund the installation of four to six Level 2 charging stations including bringing power to the location. Adams Hoksbergen also includes a maintenance service contract of three to ten years to ensure stations remain in good working order. In reality, however, she often has to cobble together grants from several sponsors to make it happen.
“Over the last decade, the cost of installing a charging station in California has risen from about $9,000 per port to now over $30,000 per port,” she shares.
Adams Hoksbergen also has to contend with payment issues.
In most locations, charging is offered for free as part of the sponsorship agreement. In areas of high utilization, drivers are asked to pay for electricity––as long as there’s sufficient cell phone signal to conduct a transaction. For truly remote locations without cell phone coverage or power sources, Adams Hoksbergen uses solar panels to power her charging systems––and the charging is free.
But consumers won’t have to worry about the reliability of Adopt a Charger stations.
“If one of my charging stations goes offline, for whatever reason, my goal is to return it to service in 72 hours or less,” she pledges.
Taking Time to Think
Adams Hoksbergen begins every day with meditation, a glass of lemon water, and juice, whether she’s on the road or at her home in Palos Verdes Estates, Calif., just south of Los Angeles.
“I try not to get on my phone right away because that takes everything completely sideways,” she declares. “I take care of myself first, I often do yoga, and then I start my work day.”
She also finds solace in walking, a habit she picked up during COVID.
“I love going for walks in the woods,” she offers. “It’s quiet, I’m surrounded by trees and I love seeing birds and other animals. It just gives me a peaceful, grounded feeling.”
Staying in Touch
After mid-morning coffee, Adams Hoksbergen spends her day on the phone schmoozing would-be clients and psyching out potential new partnerships between corporations and communities. Her small but dedicated team of consultants, board members and part-time employees help her manage projects and negotiate deals with utilities scattered across the country.
Adams Hoksbergen also relies on PlugShare, a mobile/web app that provides locations and status of EV charging stations across the U.S. She uses it to monitor her charging station and stay in touch with users.
“I love this app,” she reports. “People are constantly sending me pictures and information about my charging stations. Sometimes the stations are damaged and not working, but other times they’re fully operational but perhaps blocked by a dumpster or some other situation.
"I get a much more accurate picture from the direct, real-time observations of other EV drivers.”
Focusing on the Journey
A simple philosophy keeps Adams Hoksbergen moving forward:
"Don't get attached to the outcome,” she advises. “I’ve learned that if I judge my success by the finish line, I'll never get there. Every EV charging project is a journey of discovery. I try to find gratitude in the journey, not the destination.”
Ultimately, she observes, it’s her interactions with new communities of EV drivers that make her work with Adopt a Charger so gratifying.
“I’m making a difference in these communities by helping people who are dedicated to preserving places that are special to me for future generations,” she reflects. “These are mission-driven people who are paid in sunsets. If there’s any way I can help them, I want to do it.”
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If you enjoyed this article, you'll also like my profile of Tiya Gordon, who's developed a new way for urban dwellers to charge their EV where they park overnight. If you or someone in your company is looking for someone to write feature articles about your company or its innovative employees, please contact me at brooks@personsofinfrastructure.com
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