NYC to Install First-Ever Curbside Electric Vehicle Charging Stations
By Celia Young June 24, 2021 12:29 pm
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In a move sure to make some Tesla owners happy, New York City will install its first curbside electric vehicle charging stations by October.
The New York City Department of Transportation’s (DOT) plans to install 100 electric charging ports for public use as part of the city’s environmental goals, including achieving carbon neutrality by 2050. NYCDOT will also add another 20 that will serve the city’s fleet of electric vehicles, The Wall Street Journal reported.
The addition of the charging stations will help address the city’s scarce charging options. In March, Commercial Observer could only find one electric vehicle charger in Lower Manhattan and the Upper West Side.
There are 15,000 electric vehicles registered in the city and only about 1,500 charging stations, most of which provide an 80 percent charge in four to eight hours, according to WSJ. Meanwhile, the number of electric cars in the Big Apple keeps growing — the percentage of them registered in New York has grown by 50 percent in just the past year, per WSJ.
The curbside chargers are part of a wider effort by the city to expand electric vehicle charging options. In December, Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced 10 new charging ports at John F. Kennedy International Airport in Queens. Cuomo followed that announcement in May with a new program, led by the New York Power Authority, which committed $250 million to expand public fast-charging options.
The private sector has also gotten involved. Manhattan-based technology firm Blueprint Power announced a $3 million state award from the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority in June, allowing the company to install more than 150 charging stations in a LeFrak City building complex in Queens.
The city chargers — funded by a grant from the New York State Public Service Commission — will cost $2.50 per hour during the day and $1 per hour overnight. The first, new charging station has already been installed in the Bronx, WSJ reported. Quebec-based, charging network operator FLO will manage the network under contract with Consolidated Edison.
Con Edison plans to invest $310 million by 2025 to fund more than 21,000 chargers in the city, Westchester, Orange and Rockland counties, WSJ reported.
