Charge for a charge

PALO ALTO >> Electric vehicle owners soon will have an easier time finding charging stations in Palo Alto, but the convenience will come at a cost of roughly $2 an hour.

The city is doubling the number of charging stations at public facilities as part of an effort to make “electric vehicle driving in Palo Alto as convenient and economical as possible,” city officials said in a statement.

The city this week unveiled new solar panels installed on top of public parking garages at 445 Bryant St. and 520 Webster St., through a partnership with Komuna Energy, that will help power electric vehicle charging stations at the sites.

“Our ability to generate local renewable power used to enhance the infrastructure in support of electric vehicle ownership and driving reinforces Palo Alto’s role as a leader in clean energy and EV market share,” City Manager James Keene said. “Both are key to reaching our sustainability and climate action goals.”

One of the city’s goals is for 4 percent of its total electric energy consumption to come from local solar sources by 2020.

Komuna Energy will install six additional charging ports in two garages near California Avenue. Komuna also is installing infrastructure to support 20 additional ports at each of the city’s four parking garages. The city has a Bay Area Air Quality Management District grant to install 40 chargers using the electrical infrastructure.

This summer, the city started offering rebates of up to $30,000 to schools, nonprofits, multifamily and mixed-use properties for installing charging stations on private property.

However, to help the city recover costs for maintaining and expanding the electric vehicle charging facilities as well as to encourage greater turnover, the city will start charging a fee at the charging ports as of Aug. 1.

Drivers will be charged 23 cents per kilowatt-hour. On average it takes 8.5 kilowatt-hours, or about two hours, to charge an electric vehicle; so the cost will be about $2 for each charging session.

Drivers will receive a mobile notification from Chargepoint when the charging session is done and drivers will have 20 minutes to move their vehicles. After that grace period, drivers will be charged $2 per hour as long as the vehicle continues to be plugged into the charging station.

The city’s three-hour parking limit in garages applies to the charging station spots, so those who violate the limit could be cited.