Electric Vehicle Charging Stations Added To Bellevue Parks

With demand taking off for public electric vehicle charging stations at City Hall, four have been added there and 10 have been installed at other city facilities. The charging stations were installed in October and November at:

• (2 each in visitor and employee lots)
• (2)
• (2)
• (2)
• (2)
• (2)

In November 2010 two electric vehicle charging stations were installed in the City Hall visitor lot, and those locations have seen increased use in recent months. Most electric vehicle drivers do the bulk of their charging at home, but use public charging stations to supplement and travel further distances.

While Bellevue currently doesn’t charge for the electricity from any of its public charging stations, the city may implement a fee of $2 to $4 per charging session next spring. The usage fee, consistent with those at charging stations in neighboring cities, will cover the cost of the electricity and station maintenance.

Stations can be activated (and paid for) through the use of a key-fob swipe card issued by the ChargePoint charging network. These cards can be obtained online in advance or at the charging location by calling a toll-free number. Electric vehicle drivers can easily locate public-use charging stations through dashboard GPS displays in the vehicles.

The charging stations, funded by the Western Washington Clean Cities Coalition and the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, automatically track information, allowing the city to better understand usage patterns, estimate reductions in petroleum use and track other benefits. The use of electric vehicles rather than cars with internal combustion engines provides an opportunity to reduce air pollution from Bellevue’s largest single emissions sector – transportation.

According to the city’s Development Services Department, 40 permits have been issued for commercial and single-family residential charging stations so far this year. To date, more than 10,000 electric vehicles have been sold in the U.S.

Details about public charging stations in Bellevue are available at http://www.bellevuewa.gov/electric-vehicles.htm.

Earlier this year, Bellevue Square also installed .

-- Information from the