City of Boston gives electric vehicle program a jolt

We have a goal of becoming carbon neutral by 2050, and transportation accounts for nearly a third of Boston’s total carbon emissions. Sixty-five percent of emissions come from personal vehicles like cars and SUVs. 

The City's transportation plan, Go Boston 2030, aims to shift travelers away from personal vehicles to:

• public transit
• walking and biking, and
• shared trips. 

We also need to make all remaining cars zero-emission vehicles. 

Recharge Boston is the Boston Transportation Department’s program to support electric vehicles. We're focused on developing policies and programs to encourage drivers to use electric – or zero emission – vehicles. 

The majority of electric vehicle owners charge their vehicles at home. But many Bostonians live in housing with no dedicated off-street parking, which prevents home charging. A survey conducted as part of the 2019 Climate Action Plan Update revealed that 45 percent of Bostonians would purchase an electric vehicle if they had access to a charger. 

The available charging infrastructure does not meet current demand. It is not enough to further encourage a transition to electric vehicles. To provide options for those who can't charge an electric vehicle at home, the City is increasing access to public chargers. 

In March 2019, Mayor Martin Walsh announced that the City will be installing electric vehicle charging stations in municipal lots. In the winter and spring of 2020, the City will begin rolling out electric vehicle charging stations in six municipal lots. Working with Eversource through their Make Ready Program, the City will continue to expand its investment in electric vehicle charging. Through the program, Eversource is providing the infrastructure necessary to power electric vehicle charging stations, and the City is installing and operating the charging stations. Each lot will see four to six parking spaces set aside for electric vehicle charging. The chargers cost the user $0.25/kWh. Users must be actively charging, and there is a time limit of 4 hours.

The municipal lots include:

• Lot 005 - 166 London Street, East Boston
• Lot 006 - 737 Centre Street, Jamaica Plain (installed)
• Lot 008 - 10 Tafthill Terrace, Roslindale
• Lot 012 - 37 Winthrop Street, Hyde Park
• Lot 013 - 451 River Street, Mattapan
• Lot 019 - 16 Hamlet Street, Dorchester

There are 32 municipal lots throughout the City - totaling in 1,375 parking spaces. The City plans on installing more charging stations in additional lots. The goal is to have publicly accessible electric vehicle charging stations in every neighborhood by 2023. 

If you are interested in hearing about other Recharge Boston programs, visit the Recharge Boston website.