City charging forward for electric vehicles
Some Northwest neighborhood representatives remain leery
The city wants to install 9,500 electric vehicle charging stations on public streets in the next 10 years, and at least one Portland neighborhood association is saying hold your horses.
Henry Miller and Hannah Morrison of the Portland Bureau of Transportation’s two-year-old EV program met with the Northwest District Association Planning Committee, a group with a few miles under its belt.
That includes Roger Vrilakas, an early adopter in the 1970s when he bought a primitive electric car. He still loves the idea of electric mobility but doubts the wisdom of local government getting into the business.
PBOT is contracting with charger manufacturers and electric utilities to install charging stations on power poles. PBOT dedicates the adjacent parking space for charging purposes only. The Level II stations require four to eight hours for a full charge.
Vrilakas said the city is investing in a technology that could soon be obsolete as fast-charging stations become be the norm. Furthermore, private companies are adding 1,000 charging stations a week across the country, he said, which may soon make them more common than gas stations.
Other committee members questioned dedicating scarce on-street parking spaces for this use.
The committee drew a handful of EV enthusiasts who were less concerned with such details.
“This sounds great,” Steven Goehrig said.
“You should do it right away,” said Jeremiah Via, who had an electric vehicle but found recharging to be a hassle.
Lauren Thompson said she had an EV, but “range anxiety” caused her to return to a gasoline power.
Morrison said PBOT is targeting neighborhoods on the fringe of the city or in renter dominated areas where charging stations are less available. She said that the PBOT program has immediate plans for only 35 sites citywide, only two or three of which might be in the Northwest District.
Does anyone remember when the city wanted to contract with private companies for creation of a free wifi network?
The issue that was of the most concern at the meeting was the fact neither PBOT employee could tell us what the cost was for an individual station or the overall project. How is that possible in a city that can’t afford to maintain its roads…..