City to build two EV charging stations
This EV charging station near Walmart in Ruston features five charging units for electric vehicles. Soon the City of Ruston will be adding two charging stations as part of a settlement from Volkswagen’s “Dieselgate” case. Leader photo by Nancy Bergeron
Ruston will soon have two electric vehicle charging stations thanks to Volkswagen’s 2015 “Dieselgate” emissions standard settlement.
The carmaker agreed to make amends for installing software that allowed its vehicles to cheap on emissions tests by consenting to spend more than $2 billion building electric car chargers and encouraging electric vehicle adoption.
Louisiana received more than $19 million from the settlement. Now Ruston has been awarded a $70,000 grant from the fund that will be used to install charging stations at the Historic Fire Station downtown and at the Ruston Sports Complex.
The stations are expected to take about two months to install once a contractor gets the goahead, city Utilities Manager Andrew Halbrook said.
The Board of Aldermen on Monday voted to proceed with the project.
Each station will have two standard Telsa charging terminals and can be expanded if demand grows, Halbrook said.
A fee will be charged to use the stations, but how much is yet to be determined.
Charging a vehicle is expected to take 30 to 45 minutes. Having the two strategically placed charging stations is another way Ruston can serve it s residents and visitors, Halbrook said.
“This gives people the ability to charge their car while they’re at a game or if they’re at a restaurant, they can charge their car while they’re downtown,” he said.
