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Austin Energy Installs Dozens of Electric Vehicle Charging Stations

An electric vehicle charging station in the City Hall parking garage, one of more than 100 stations Austin Energy installed at 53 locations across the city.
Photo by Daniel Reese for KUT News
An electric vehicle charging station in the City Hall parking garage, one of more than 100 stations Austin Energy installed at 53 locations across the city.

You don’t see many plug-in vehicles on the roads these days. But Austin Energy expects one in ten cars in Central Texas to be electric by the year 2020.

That’s why it announced today more than 100 new charging stations at 53 locations across Austin.

This announcement comes on a day when the state is approaching a shortage of electricity. Austin Energy spokesman Carlos Cordova says they’re studying how to deal with peak demand in the summer.

“We want to encourage people, for example, to charge their vehicles off peak," Cordova told KUT News. "We’re developing incentives to provide reduced prices, say, at midnight when we want people charging their cars, and not at 5 p.m. or 6 p.m."

The charging stations will cost $2 an hour, payable with a credit card. Austin Energy will also offer unlimited charging for six months for $25.

It takes about three hours to fully charge a Chevy Volt, which can drive for 40 miles before switching to gasoline. A Nissan LEAF takes six to eight hours, and can drive about 100 miles per charge.

Austin Energy had already announced rebates of up to $1,500 for customers who install a Level 2 electric vehicle charging station in their homes.

Nathan Bernier is the transportation reporter at KUT. He covers the big projects that are reshaping how we get around Austin, like the I-35 overhaul, the airport's rapid growth and the multibillion dollar transit expansion Project Connect. He also focuses on the daily changes that affect how we walk, bike and drive around the city. Got a tip? Email him at nbernier@kut.org. Follow him on Twitter @KUTnathan.
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