[Libs-Or] NEWS: R-G - Electric vehicle charging stations now at Dtn EPL & other City garages

[BENNETT Connie J]

http://www.registerguard.com/web/business/27546111-41/stations-charging-garage-electric-eugene.html.csp
City opens vehicle charging stations
Part of a federal pilot project, the stations open at the library and a parking garage
By Ilene Aleshire
The Register-Guard
Published: Wednesday, Feb 1, 2012 05:02A
Two charging stations for electric vehicles were turned on at downtown’s Eugene Public Library on Tuesday, and two more will be operational by today at the Broadway South parking garage, according to Jeff Petry, the city’s parking services manager.
With six other stations recently activated at the Parcade garage and another two at the Overpark garage, the city has opened three-fourths of the 16 free charging stations it plans to install in downtown and south Eugene as part of a federal pilot project. The final four will be at the Amtrak train station and Hilyard Community Center.
Local car dealers who sell electric vehicles said they are delighted by the rollout of the city charging stations.
“Giving people access to these charging stations is a necessary step to offering this EV (electric vehicle) to more people,” said Chris Hoff, marketing director of Kendall Auto Group, which sells the Chevy Volt. The more charging stations there are, the more appealing the electric vehicles become, he said.
“This is good news for the people who bought (EVs),” added Billy Krebs, who handles sales of Nissan Leafs at Lithia Nissan, although Krebs added that he was hoping the city-installed stations would be the fast-charging kind, which they are not. Both Lithia and Kendall have fast-charging stations.
“There are people who travel through here from Corvallis and Portland who use our charger who are driving all the way down to Ashland,” Krebs said. “You can go 99 miles on a charge; everybody who owns these wants the fast chargers.”
Petry said it costs tens of thousands of dollars to install the Level 3 charging stations, which can provide a recharge of up to 80 percent for vehicles in 20 to 30 minutes.
The city’s Level 2 charging stations, which are paid for by a federal grant and private matching funds, will provide a charge good for only about 2 miles per hour of charging. But they only cost a few thousand dollars to install, Petry said.
“These are kind of a safety valve,” he said, for someone who’s driven in from Veneta, for example, and who is getting a signal from the car that the charge is going down.
“They can park at the library up to three hours, get a cup of coffee, read a book and get enough of a charge to get home. Studies from the pilot project show that most of the charging is happening at home, overnight.”
Krebs said Lithia has sold about 20 Leafs since they started taking orders around the middle of last year — “They’re specially ordered ... it takes about six months to get a car.” He sold one of the two remaining Leafs he had in stock on Tuesday, he said.
“If Nissan would give us 20 to 30 at a time, we could sell them all, so many people want them,” he said. Buyers come from across the age spectrum, he said, from people in their 20s to senior citizens.
Prices start in the low mid-$30,000 range, he said, but added that there is a tax credit of $7,500 for buyers. There’s also the fuel savings: “One of the first guys we sold one to has 12,000 miles on his already. He’s spent less than $200 on electricty.”
Hoff said the manufacturers’ suggested retail price for the Volt “goes from the high 30s to the mid-to-high 40s.”
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