The Puget Sound region, including the City of Tacoma, is one of six regions in the country included in the Electric Vehicle (EV) Program and one of nine regions included in ChargePoint America. Both of these programs are funded with Federal Stimulus dollars through the U.S. Department of Energy. By being within the programs' target regions, public and private entities in Tacoma are eligible to receive funds through these programs to help install EV charging stations for public use.

The EV Project, lead by ECOtality North America, seeks to install 1,200 publicly available Level 2 charging stations and 22 Level 3 fast charge stations in the Puget Sound in 2011.

12 New EV Charging Stations

Tacoma is driving positive change with the installation of 12 new Electric Vehicle (EV) charging stations available for public use. The Level 2 units work for Chevrolet Volt, Nissan Leaf and all other electric cars that use the J1772 standard.

The charging stations are located at the following facilities:

 2 stations at the Pacific Plaza Garage, located at 1125 Commerce St.
 2 stations at the Museum of Glass, located at 1801 Dock St.
 2 stations at the 'A' Street Garage, located at 110 South 10th St.
 4 stations at the Tacoma Convention Center - Lot A, located at 1500 Broadway
 2 stations are also being installed at Cheney Stadium in conjunction with the Sustainable Stormwater Project. These stations will be available for public use upon the completion of the project.

Cost

Cost for use is $3 per charging session, payable with a credit card on the charger unit. The chargers shut off automatically when a battery is fully charged.

Leadership & Innovation

Zero emission electric vehicles help the City work towards cleaner air and water goals. The cars represent a good taxpayer investment too, through higher resale values.

Long term budgeting is improved since electricity prices are less volatile than gas, and maintenance costs (no oil changes!) are reduced.

In addition to providing a valuable customer service, the project helps spread clean transportation technology access, acceptance and viability. More charging stations encourage consumers who may have range concerns, while fleet purchases help drive down vehicle prices.

Other links to charging stations in the South Sound may be found here and here.