The city of Gig Harbor, Washington has announced that two large EV ChargePoint charging stations, located in the Maritime Pier parking lot and Finholm View Climb lot, will no longer be free starting May.
The city’s chargers will then cost drivers $0.25 per kW, which would cost an average of $18 per charging session, depending on the vehicle. In addition to a cost per kW used, an overstay fee would be imposed for EV owners who don’t move their vehicles after the battery is charged.
The stations, initially installed in 2017, have cost the city $5,500 per year in charging costs. Jeff Langhelm, the Public Works Director for the city, told the outlet that many cities started charging EV owners soon after stations were built. However, he decided to keep charging free to draw in more EV owners to the downtown area to entice them to shop while they wait for their cars to finish charging.
Now that more residents are buying and charging EVs, it’s time to recoup some of the city’s expenses.
Based on ChargePoint rates of other cities nearby, like Seattle’s $0.21 per kW or Bellingham’s $0.25, it’s likely that Gig Harbor’s will be close to that range.
The revenue collected from the public charging stations would go back to the city, Wiser said. In time, she indicated that the revenue could be used to build more stations in Gig Harbor.
Currently, the city of Gig Harbor offers EV charging for $1.00 per hour for up to four hours, with it rising to $2.00 per hour after four hours.
