Daniel Phan had the world on a string.

He drove a Mercedes Benz to his job at Fannie Mae, where he churned out housing loans until the bubble burst.

Now, he sits behind a desk for a Los Angeles city and county joint agency finding housing for the homeless, the very people the housing boon left on the curb.

“I was on the profit-making side of housing and urban development with Fannie Mae,” Phan, 50, explained. “Now I am doing the opposite. That is the beauty of this country.”

The transformation didn’t stop there. He garaged his gasoline-thirsty Benz and leased a 2013 Nissan Leaf, a battery-powered electric car that he charges at one of 64 new solar charge ports at the Metrolink train station in Industry. With his car charging, he rides the clean-diesel train to his office; when the train glides into the station around 6:07 p.m., he walks to his reserved parking spot, unhooks the charger and drives to his home in Walnut on battery power.

The entire commute is nearly pollution free.

“I strongly believe in the electric vehicle and anything that can bring green sustainability and profitability,” said Phan. “It comes down to choices. This is the better choice.”

Subsidy from AQMD

Phan is one of a group of 59 Nissan Leaf owners who were nudged into a sustainable lifestyle through a one-of-a-kind program offered through the city of Industry and the regional South Coast Air Quality Management District.

The generous, $13 million program supplies each lessee with a $2,000 down payment and pays about half their monthly payments.

Slowly but surely, it is turning a car-oriented suburban town like Walnut in the eastern part of the county into an unlikely green living spot with a modicum of consciousness raising sprinkled in for good measure.

In short, these 59 electric car owners — also required to take the train 14 days out of the month — are experiencing an environmental awakening normally reserved for planet-conscious celebrities on the Westside munching on organic produce and tofu.

For example, Hao Cheng, 36, also of Walnut, has suddenly familiarized himself with all the public charging stations. And not just those in California, but in the entire Pacific Northwest. Cheng has become a bit of a fanatic in less than a month.

The Leaf goes about 100 miles per charge, but when traveling the freeway that dips to 60 to 80 miles at most. Like many all-electric car owners, he carefully planned his trip to Palm Springs, finding a 480-volt super charger at a McDonald’s on University Avenue in Riverside, about halfway there.

His Leaf comes with a quick-charge port.

“I refilled my battery there in 36 minutes. Otherwise, I cannot make that trip because it is about 100 miles,” Cheng said.

Cheng found a website that maps out all quick-charge locations in the U.S. “In Oregon and Washington, they have a lot of fast-charging station along the freeways. California needs more investment in those facilities if they want to increase the number of EVs,” he said.

State leads nation in EVs

Southern California Edison counted 12,000 plug-in vehicles in their service area as of Aug. 6, according to its report “Charged Up.” They represent 10 percent of the plug-in vehicles operating in the nation, making California “a launch state” for electric vehicles, the report stated.

Of those, 65 percent are cars that also have smaller gasoline engines to extend the range, such as the Chevy Volt, the Ford C-Max Energi and the Fusion Energi; 35 percent are all battery, such as the Leaf, the Honda EV, the Chevy Spark EV and the new Smart EV.

In about six years, SCE estimates the number of plug-in vehicles in its service area will reach 350,000.

To meet electric charging demand, SCE recommends electric and partial-electric vehicle owners designate the end of the charge time on their car’s on-board computer, so that charging start and end times vary, so as not to overload the grid. Most plug-in vehicle owners who charge at home do so after 10 p.m., when rates are lower and electricity more plentiful, the report stated.

SCE’s report concludes that plug-in vehicle owners are more likely to live in suburban areas where garages are equipped with 220-volt chargers or standard 120-volt plugs. Only 5 percent of multi-unit residents owners or condominium associations surveyed said they would consider installing such infrastructure.

Can the grid handle it?

Most if not all of those in the Industry-SCAQMD program live in Walnut, a town with a majority of single-family homes with garages. This, and the fact that Industry and the SCAQMD paid for 64 charging stations using solar panels, makes the program fit well with commuters who work in Los Angeles.

While most public charging stations, found at city halls, in Walgreens and at Ikea, can charge a car in about four hours, Blink is building quick chargers. Two super chargers exist at the SCAQMD in Diamond Bar. But very few are available to the public, hampering the range of all-electric cars.

SCE is concerned about an increase in high-voltage chargers and cars that accept the quick charge. “This could create new implications for grid reliability …” according to the report.

The report also lists the top three questions EV owners ask: How much will it cost to charge their car? Where are the public charging stations? What are the environmental benefits of these non-gas guzzling cars?

Geeks crunch numbers

Nam Huyn calculated that it costs less than half in “fuel” to drive his Nissan Leaf than his mini-van.

Huyn, who works in the Los Angeles Controller’s Office, pays attention to numbers. Since each participant went out and got their best deal at a local car dealer, each monthly lease payment is different. Huyn said he was one of five to receive an introductory $180 per month lease. With the $125 per month subsidy from the program, his monthly cost is $55.

“I think this is a wonderful program,” Huyn said. “If somehow, all cities and other organizations can figure out a way to promote electric vehicles, it would be a win-win for all.”

Merci Adams, 51, of Walnut, had her car payment reduced from $375 to $250 with the subsidy. Even though that’s more than some in the program, Adams is not complaining. She believes driving the electric car and taking the train to her job in a law office in L.A. is better than driving her old car, a Mercedes Benz.

“I love it. Love it. Love it. Did I say I love it?,” she said. “It is one of the best cars I’ve ever owned and I have driven some high-end cars,” including a Cadillac. She’s vowed to buy the electric car when the two-year lease runs out.

“Did I mention my boyfriend, who is 6-foot-9, loves it?” she asked.

Adams has ridden trains to her job in L.A. for 20 years. Adding the electric car fit into her lifestyle. Now, she can check environmentalist next to her description of legal secretary and mother of a teenaged daughter.

“I love passing those gas stations,” she said.

She estimates she’s saving about $250 a month in fuel. “I’m giving that to my daughter, the starving college student,” she said.

Making greener choices

Phan said switching to an electric car from a gasoline-powered model will soon be the norm, just as more people no longer smoke cigarettes.

“Just as in those days, when we smoked, we didn’t know any better. We polluted the air and we were killing the person next to us. Now we know better. I believe in better things. Science can create better things,” he said.